Page:The Russian story book, containing tales from the song-cycles of Kiev and Novgorod and other early sources.djvu/287

 Lake Ilmen fishes with golden fins.' Then they will argue with you and say that such fishes do not exist, but you must wager your head upon the truth of your word, in return for their pledge of all their shops and their precious wares.

"Then you shall buy a net of the finest silk, not for youthful vanity, but for strength, and come and cast it into the waters of Lake Ilmen. You must cast the net three times in the lake, and at each cast I will place within it a fish with fins of gold. So shall you win your wager, even the rich shops of Novgorod, and become Sadko the Rich Guest. But in wealth forget not your sweet playing, nor the golden tones of your harp of maple-wood."

Then the Water Tsar vanished from Sadko's sight.

The harper went back to Novgorod the Great, and it all happened as the Water Tsar had spoken up to the time when the boasters had said their say. Then one of them said to Sadko:

"Why do you sit there, musician, and utter never a single word of boasting?"

"What shall I boast of?" asked Sadko. "I have no treasure except the golden tones of my harp of maple-wood. But there is one thing I know right well; there are in Ilmen Lake fishes with fins of gold."

"You lie, Sadko," cried the merchants. But Sadko said:

"I will wager my head against all the wealth of your shops."