Page:Zakhar Berkut(1944).djvu/77

 That is exactly the sort of thing your king has done with us. What your armor is to you, our lands and forests are to us. From time immemorial, we used them and guarded them as carefully as if they were the eyes in our heads and here you come along in the name of your king and say, ‘This is mine! My king gave me this as a reward for my valuable services!’ And you proceed to drive away our shepherds, kill our forester, right on our own lands! Tell me, how can we be expected after such exemplary justice to consider your king a worthy ruler?”

“You are wrong, old fellow!” replied Tuhar Wolf. “All of us, and everything we own including our cattle and our lands are the property of the king. The king alone is free and we are his vassals. His will is our law. He can do with us as he pleases.”

These words struck Zakhar Berkut like a deafening blow on the crown of the head. He bowed his gray old head and was silent for a long moment not knowing what to say. Also as if dealt a deadly blow, an onerous silence held the folk-mote.

At last Zakhar stood up. His face glowed with a peculiar light. He raised his hands in supplication to the sun: “Oh Brilliant Sun, Benevolent and Free Giver of Light, do not listen to the hateful words which this man has dared to speak before your very face! Do not heed them, I beg of you, forget that they were ever uttered on our realm, up to now not even by such thought defiled! Do not punish us for them! For I know you will not let it pass unpunished. And if there, in that king’s Halich many other such people have been pro-created, then wipe them off the face of the earth, but in your punishment of them for their evil ways, do not destroy also the rest of our race!”

These words apparently soothed Zakhar. He sat down again and turning to the boyar, said, “We have heard your convictions, Boyarin. Please do not repeat them here before us