The Primary Chronicle (The Tale of Bygone Years)

This is the tale of bygone years, told by a monk of the Caves Monastery of Theodosius: where the land of Rus' came from […], and who first began to rule in it, and how the land of Rus' came to be.

This is where we begin this tale.

After the flood Noah's three sons divided the earth: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Shem received the east: Persia, Bactria, as far as India in length, and in width as far as Rhinocolura — that is, from the east down to the south — and Syria, and Media along the Euphrates river, and Babylon, Corduene, the Assyrians, Mesopotamia, Arabia the Elder, Elymais, India, Arabia the Strong, Coele, Commagene, and all of Phoenicia.

Ham received the southern part: Egypt, and the Ethiopia that lies next to India, and another Ethiopia, from which flows the Red Ethiopian river, running east; the Thebaid, Libya, reaching as far as Cyrene; Marmarica, the Syrtis, another Libya, Numidia, Masuria, and Mauretania, which lies opposite Gades. Toward the east he holds Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Mysia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, Camalia, Lycia, Caria, Lydia, another Mysia, the Troad, Soli, Bithynia, and Old Phrygia. He also holds the islands: Sardinia, Crete, Cyprus, and the river Gihon, called the Nile.

Japheth received the northern lands and the west: Media, Albania, Armenia the Lesser and the Greater, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Galatia, Colchis, the Bosporus; the Maeotians, the Derbians, the Sarmatians, the Taurians; Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia, Dalmatia; the Molossians, Thessaly, Locris, Pellene, which is also called the Peloponnese; Arcadia, Epirus, Illyricum; the Slavs, Lusitania, Adriaca, and the Adriatic Sea. He also holds the islands: Britain, Sicily, Euboea, Rhodes, Chios, Lesbos, Cythera, Zakynthos, Cephallenia, Ithaca, Corcyra, and part of every land, and the land called Ionia, and the river Tigris, which flows between Media and Babylon. His lands run to the Pontus Sea on the north: the Danube, the Dnieper, and the Caucasus mountains, that is, the Hungarian mountains; and from there, that is, all the way to the Dnieper, and the other rivers: the Desna, the Pripyat, the Dvina, the Volkhov, and the Volga, which flows east into Shem's share. In Japheth's share live the Rus', the Chud, and all the peoples: the Merians, the Muroma, the Ves, the Mordvians, the Chud beyond the portages, the Permians, the Pechera, the Yam, the Yugra, the Lithuanians, the Semigallians, the Kurs, the Latgalians, the Livonians. The Poles, the Prussians, and the Chud sit along the Varangian Sea. Along that same sea sit the Varangians here to the east, to the border of Shem's share; and along that same sea they sit to the west, as far as the land of the Hagarenes and the land of the Vlachs.

This too is the stock of Japheth: the Varangians, the Swedes, the Norsemen, the Goths, the Rus', the English, the Galicians, the Vlachs, the Romans, the Germans, the Korlazians, the Venetians, the Franks, and the rest. They live from the west toward the south and adjoin the tribe of Ham.

Shem, Ham, and Japheth divided the earth and cast lots, so that no one would cross into a brother's share, and each lived in his own part. There was one language. When the people had grown many on the earth, they planned to build a tower up to heaven, in the days of Joktan and Peleg. They gathered at the plain of Shinar to build […] a tower up to heaven, and the city of Babylon around it. They worked on the tower for 40 years, and it was not finished. The Lord God came down to see the city and the tower, and the Lord said: “Here is one people and one language.” God mixed up the tongues and divided them into 70 and two, and scattered them over the whole earth. After the mixing of tongues God broke the tower apart with a great wind. A remnant of it stands between Asshur and Babylon. It is 5433 cubits in height and width, and the remnant has been kept for many years.

After the tower fell and the tongues were divided, Shem's sons took the eastern lands, and Ham's sons the southern lands, and Japheth's sons the west and the northern lands. Among those 72 tongues was the Slavic tongue, from the tribe of Japheth — the ones called the Noricians, who are the Slavs.

After a long time the Slavs settled on the Danube, where the Hungarian land and the Bulgarian land are now. Those Slavs spread over the earth and took names of their own, according to the place where each settled. Some came and settled on a river called the Morava and were named the Moravians, and others took the name Czechs. And these are the same Slavs: the White Croats, the Serbs, and the Carinthians. When the Vlachs fell upon the Slavs on the Danube and settled among them and oppressed them, some Slavs came and settled on the Vistula and were called the Poles; from those Poles the Polianians took their name. Other Poles became the Lutichians, others the Mazovians, and others the Pomeranians.

In the same way those same Slavs came and settled along the Dnieper and were called the Polianians, and others the Derevlianians, because they settled in the forests. Others settled between the Pripyat and the Dvina and were called the Dregovichians. Others settled on the Dvina and were called the Polotskians, after the stream that flows into the Dvina and is named the Polota; from it they took their name. And Slavs settled around Lake Ilmen and kept their own name, and they built a town and named it Novgorod. And others settled on the Desna, and along the Seim, and along the Sula, and were called the Severianians. So the Slavic tongue spread abroad, and from this the Slavic written language got its name.

While the Polianians lived apart on these hills, there was a route from the Varangians to the Greeks, and from the Greeks along the Dnieper; at the top of the Dnieper there was a portage to the Lovat, and along the Lovat one comes into Lake Ilmen the great. From that lake the Volkhov flows and enters the great lake Nevo, and from that lake the mouth runs out into the Varangian Sea. By that sea one can sail all the way to Rome, and from Rome come by the same sea to Constantinople, and from Constantinople come into the Pontus Sea, into which the Dnieper river flows. The Dnieper flows out of the Okov Forest and runs south. The Dvina flows out of that same forest and runs north and enters the Varangian Sea. Out of that same forest the Volga flows east and enters the Caspian Sea by 70 mouths. So from Rus' one can go by the Volga to the Bulgars and the Khvalisy and reach the east, into Shem's share; by the Dvina to the Varangians, and from the Varangians to Rome, and from Rome to the tribe of Ham. The Dnieper enters the Pontus Sea by three mouths; that sea is called the Rus' Sea. On it taught the holy apostle Andrew, Peter's brother.

As they tell, when Andrew was teaching in Sinope, he came to Korsun and saw that the mouth of the Dnieper was close to Korsun. He wanted to go to Rome, and he came to the mouth of the Dnieper, and from there he went up the Dnieper. By chance he came and stopped below the hills, on the shore. In the morning he rose and said to the disciples with him: “Do you see these hills? On these hills the grace of God will shine; there is to be a great city here, and God will raise up many churches.” He went up onto these hills, blessed them, set up a cross, prayed to God, and came down from the hill where Kyiv was later to stand, and went on up the Dnieper. He came to the Slovenes, where Novgorod now stands, and saw the people there, what their ways were and how they washed and lashed themselves with bundles of twigs, and he was amazed at them. He went on to the Varangians and came to Rome, and told what he had learned and what he had seen, and said to them: “A wonder I saw in the land of the Slavs as I came here. I saw wooden bathhouses. They heat them very hot, and undress, and stand naked, and douse themselves with a sour wash, and take young twigs, and begin to lash themselves, and they lash themselves until they are nearly dead; they barely climb out alive, and douse themselves with cold water, and so come back to life. They do this every day. No one torments them; they torment themselves. What they do is not bathing for themselves, but […] torment.” When they heard this, they were amazed. Andrew, after his time in Rome, came to Sinope.

The Polianians lived apart and were ruled through their own clans — they were Polianians even before these brothers — and each clan lived in its own place, each ruled by its own kin. There were three brothers: the first was named Kyi, the second Shchek, the third Khoryv, and their sister was Lybid. Kyi sat on the hill where the Borichev ascent is now; Shchek sat on the hill now called Shchekovitsa; and Khoryv on the third hill, from which came the name Khoryvitsa. They built a small town in the name of their eldest brother and called it Kyiv. Around the town there was forest and a great pinewood, and they hunted beasts there. They were wise and sensible, and they were called Polianians; from them come the Kyivans among the Polianians to this day.

Others, who do not know, say that Kyi was a ferryman; there was a ferry at Kyiv in those days, from the far side of the Dnieper, and so people said: “To the ferry, to Kyiv.” If Kyi had been a ferryman, he would not have gone to Constantinople. This Kyi ruled as prince in his own clan. He went to the emperor — we do not know this for sure; we know only what they tell: that he received great honor from the emperor, which one we do not know, the emperor in whose time he came. On his way back he came to the Danube, took a liking to the place, built a small town, and wanted to settle there with his clan, but the people living nearby would not let him. To this day the people of the Danube call that town site Kyivets. Kyi came back to his own city of Kyiv, and there he ended his life; and his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, ended their lives there too.

After these brothers their clan began to hold the princedom among the Polianians; the Derevlianians held their own, the Dregovichians their own, and the Slovenes their own in Novgorod, and another branch on the Polota, from whom come the Polotskians. From these come the Krivichians too, who sit on the upper Volga and on the upper Dvina and on the upper Dnieper; their city is Smolensk, and that is where the Krivichians sit. Then the Severianians come from them. On Lake Beloe sit the Ves; on Lake Rostov the Merians; and on Lake Kleshchin Merians sit as well. Along the river Oka, where it flows into the Volga, the Muroma speak their own language, the Cheremis their own language, and the Mordvians their own language. This alone is the Slavic tongue in Rus': the Polianians, the Derevlianians, the people of Novgorod, the Polotskians, the Dregovichians, the Severianians, and the Buzhanians — so called because they sit along the Bug; later they were named the Volhynians.

These are the other peoples who pay tribute to Rus': the Chud, the Ves, the Merians, the Muroma, the Cheremis, the Mordvians, the Permians, the Pechera, the Yam, the Lithuanians, the Semigallians, the Kurs, the Neroma, and the Livonians. Each of them has its own language; they are of the stock of Japheth and live in the northern lands.

When the Slavic tongue, as we said, was living on the Danube, there came from the Scythians, that is, from the Khazars, the people called Bulgars; they settled along the Danube and were neighbors to the Slavs. After them came the White Magyars and seized the Slavic land, driving out the Vlachs, who had taken that Slavic land. These Magyars first appeared under Emperor Heraclius, the one who marched against Chosroes, emperor of Persia. In those same times there were also the Avars, who made war on Emperor Heraclius and all but took him. These Avars made war on the Slavs and tormented the Dulebians, who were Slavs, and did violence to the Dulebian women: when an Avar had to ride out, he would not let a horse or an ox be harnessed, but ordered 3, or 4, or 5 women harnessed to a cart to pull the Avar. So they tormented the Dulebians. The Avars were great in body but proud in mind, and God destroyed them; they all died, and not one Avar remained. There is a saying in Rus' to this day: “They perished like the Avars” — people who left neither tribe nor heir. After them came the Pechenegs, and later the Black Magyars passed by Kyiv, in Olga's time.

While the Polianians lived by themselves, as we said, those of Slavic stock were called Polianians, and the Derevlianians too came from the Slavs and took that name; the Radimichians and the Viatichians came from the Poles. For there were two brothers among the Poles: Radim, and the other Viatko. They came and settled: Radim on the Sozh, and his people were called the Radimichians; Viatko settled with his clan along the Oka, and from him come the Viatichians. The Polianians, the Derevlianians, the Severianians, the Radimichians, the Viatichians, and the Croats lived in peace. The Dulebians lived along the Bug, where the Volhynians are now, and the Ulichians and the Tivertsians sat along the Bug and along the Dnieper and reached out to the Danube. They were many: they sat along the Bug and the Dnieper all the way to the sea, and their towns stand to this day; the Greeks called them Great Scythia.

Each had its own customs, the laws of its fathers and its traditions, each its own ways. The Polianians kept the custom of their fathers, mild and gentle, with modesty toward their daughters-in-law and their sisters and their mothers, and daughters-in-law had great modesty toward their mothers-in-law and their husbands' brothers. They had a marriage custom: the groom did not go after the bride; they brought her in the evening, and the next morning they brought whatever was given for her. The Derevlianians lived after the manner of beasts, like cattle: they killed one another, ate everything unclean, and had no marriages; they carried off girls by the water. The Radimichians, the Viatichians, and the Severianians had one custom: they lived in the forest like any wild beast, ate everything unclean, and spoke shamelessly before their fathers and before their daughters-in-law. They had no weddings; there were gatherings between the villages. They came together at the gatherings, for dancing and every devilish song, and there they carried off wives for themselves, each the one he had come to terms with. They had two and three wives each. When someone died, they held a funeral feast over him, then raised a great pyre, laid the dead man on it, and burned him; then they gathered the bones, put them in a small […] vessel, and set it on a post at the crossroads — as the Viatichians still do. The Krivichians and the other pagans kept these same customs, not knowing God's law, but making a law for themselves.

George says in the chronicle: “Every people has some law: for some it is written out, for others it is custom, since that is what seems right in lands without law. Among these first are the Syrians, who live at the edge of the earth; they have the law and custom of their fathers: not to take part in lechery or adultery, not to steal, not to slander, not to kill, and not to do evil to anyone at all. The Bactrians too have a law — those called the Brahmans and the islanders; by the teaching and piety of their forefathers they eat no meat and drink no wine and commit no lechery and do no evil deed at all, out of great fear. For it is plain that the Indians living next to them are murderers, workers of filth, more given to wrath than nature allows; and in their innermost land they eat people and kill travelers — they even eat like dogs. The Chaldeans and the Babylonians have another law: to take their mothers, to commit lechery with their brothers' children, and to kill. They count every shameless deed a virtue, even when they do it far from their own land.”

“The Gelae have another law: their women plow, build houses, and do men's work; they also take lovers as they please, never held back or blamed by their husbands. Among them are bold women who hunt strong beasts. The wives rule their husbands and make use of them. In Britain many men sleep with one wife, and likewise many women lust after one man, and they do the lawless deeds of their fathers without envy and without restraint.”

“The Amazons have no husband; they live like dumb beasts. Once a year, toward the days of spring, they come out on the land and couple with the men of the country around […], and they hold that time to be a kind of fair and a great feast. When they have conceived in the womb, they all run away from there again. When the time comes to give birth, if a boy child is born, they destroy it; but if it is a girl, they nurse it with care and bring it up.”

So even now, among us, the Cumans keep the law of their fathers: to shed blood and to boast of it, to eat carrion and every unclean thing — hamsters and gophers — and to take their stepmothers and their brothers' widows, and the other customs of their fathers. But we Christians, all the lands that believe in the Holy Trinity and in one baptism and in one faith, have one law — all who were baptized in Christ and clothed themselves in Christ.

After these years, when these brothers had died, they were oppressed by the Derevlianians and by other neighbors. The Khazars came upon them as they sat in the forests on the hills, and the Khazars said: “Pay us tribute.” The Polianians took counsel and gave a sword from each hearth. The Khazars carried them to their prince and their elders and said: “Here, we have found a new tribute.” They asked: “From where?” They said: “In the forest on the hills, over the Dnieper river.” They asked: “What have they given?” They showed the sword. And the Khazar elders said: “This tribute is not good, prince! We won our tribute with weapons sharp on one side only, that is, sabers; but these people have weapons sharp on both edges, that is, swords. They will be collecting tribute from us and from other lands.” All this came true: they did not speak by their own will, but by God's design. So too in the time of Pharaoh, emperor of Egypt, when they brought Moses before Pharaoh and the elders said to Pharaoh: “This man wants to humble the realm of Egypt” — and so it was: the Egyptians perished through Moses, though at first they had made the Hebrews work for them. So with these: at first they ruled, and in the end they themselves are ruled; and so it happened, for the princes of Rus' hold power over the Khazars to this day.

In the year 6360, the 15th indiction, when Emperor Michael began to reign, the land of Rus' began to be so called. We know this because in this emperor's time the Rus' came against Constantinople, as the Greek chronicle writes. So we begin from here and set down the numbers: from Adam to the flood, 2242 years; from the flood to Abraham, 1082 years; from Abraham to the exodus of Moses, 430 years; from the exodus of Moses to David, 601 years; from David, from the beginning of Solomon's kingdom, to the captivity of Jerusalem, 448 years; from the captivity to Alexander, 318 years; from Alexander to the birth of Christ, 333 years; from the birth of Christ to Constantine, 318 years; from Constantine to this Michael, 542 years. From the first year of this Michael to the first year of Oleg, prince of Rus', 29 years; from the first year of Oleg, once he had sat in Kyiv, to the first year of Igor, 31 years; from the first year of Igor to the first year of Sviatoslav, 33 years; from the first year of Sviatoslav to the first year of Yaropolk, 28 years; Yaropolk reigned 8 years; Vladimir reigned 37 years; Yaroslav reigned 40 years. So from the death of Sviatoslav to the death of Yaroslav, 85 years; and from the death of Yaroslav to the death of Sviatopolk, 60 years.

But let us return to what lies before us and tell what happened in these years, taking up again where we began before, with the first year of Michael, and setting the numbers in order.

In the year 6361.

In the year 6362.

In the year 6363.

In the year 6364.

In the year 6365.

In the year 6366. Emperor Michael went out with his troops by land and by sea against the Bulgars. When the Bulgars saw this, they could not stand against him; they asked to be baptized and to submit to the Greeks. The emperor baptized their prince and all their boyars and made peace with the Bulgars.

In the year 6367. The Varangians, coming from across the sea, took tribute from the Chud, from the Slovenes, from the Merians, and from all the Krivichians. The Khazars took it from the Polianians, the Severianians, and the Viatichians — a white pelt and a squirrel skin from each hearth.

In the year 6368.

In the year 6369.

In the year 6370. They drove the Varangians back across the sea and gave them no more tribute, and they began to govern themselves. But there was no justice among them: clan rose against clan, they had feuds, and they began to fight one another. So they said: “Let us seek a prince from among ourselves who will rule us and keep order by right.” They went across the sea to the Varangians, to the Rus'. Those Varangians were called Rus', just as others are called Swedes, others Norsemen, others English, and still others Goths — these were the same. The Chud, the Slovenes, the Krivichians, and all said to the Rus': “Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come and rule us and govern us.” Three brothers were chosen, with their clans; they took with them all the Rus' and came first to the Slovenes. They built the town of Ladoga. The eldest, Rurik, sat in Ladoga; the second, Sineus, at Beloozero; the third, Truvor, in Izborsk. From those Varangians the land of Rus' took its name. Two years later Sineus died, and his brother Truvor too. Rurik took all the power alone. He came to Lake Ilmen and built a town above the Volkhov; people named it Novgorod, and he sat there and reigned. He gave out to his men lands and towns to build: to one Polotsk, to another Rostov, to a third Beloozero. In those towns the Varangians are the newcomers. The first settlers in Novgorod were the Slovenes; in Polotsk, the Krivichians; in Rostov, the Merians; in Beloozero, the Ves; in Murom, the Muroma. Rurik held power over all of them.

He had two men, not of his kin but boyars; they asked leave to go to Constantinople with their kin. They went along the Dnieper, and going past they saw a small town on a hill. They asked: “Whose town is this?” The people said: “There were three brothers — Kyi, Shchek, and Khoryv — who built this town and then perished. We, their kin, sit here and pay tribute to the Khazars.” Askold and Dir stayed in that town, gathered many Varangians, and began to rule the land of the Polianians, while Rurik reigned in Novgorod.

In the year 6371.

In the year 6372.

In the year 6373.

In the year 6374. Askold and Dir went against the Greeks and arrived in the 14th year of Emperor Michael. The emperor had gone out against the Hagarenes and had reached the Black River when the city prefect sent him word that the Rus' were marching on Constantinople. The emperor turned back. The Rus' had entered inside the Straits; they killed many Christians and with 200 ships laid siege to Constantinople. The emperor barely made it into the city. With Patriarch Photius he kept prayer all night at the church of the Holy Mother of God at Blachernae; they also carried out the holy robe of the Mother of God with hymns and dipped it in the water. There was stillness and the sea had calmed, when suddenly a storm rose with wind; great waves rose up one after another, battered the ships of the godless Rus', threw them on shore, and destroyed them, so that only a few escaped that ruin and returned home.

In the year 6375.

In the year 6376. Basil began to reign.

In the year 6377. The whole Bulgarian land was baptized.

In the year 6378.

In the year 6379.

In the year 6380.

In the year 6381.

In the year 6382.

In the year 6383.

In the year 6384.

In the year 6385.

In the year 6386.

In the year 6387. Rurik died, and he handed his rule over to Oleg, who was of his kin, placing his son Igor in his hands, for Igor was still very young.

In the year 6388.

In the year 6389.

In the year 6390. Oleg set out, taking many troops with him: Varangians, Chud, Slovenes, Merians, Ves, and Krivichians. He took the town of Smolensk and set his own man there. From there he went on downstream, and coming to Liubech he took it and set his own man there. They came to the hills of Kyiv, and Oleg saw that Askold and Dir were ruling there. He hid troops in the boats and left others behind, and he himself came on, carrying the young Igor. He drew up below the Hungarian Hill, hiding his troops, and sent word to Askold and Dir: “We are merchants, going to the Greeks on behalf of Oleg and young Prince Igor. Come out to your kin, to us.” Askold and Dir came, and everyone leaped out of the boats. Oleg said to Askold and Dir: “You are not princes and not of princely stock, but I am of princely stock.” Then they carried Igor out: “This is Rurik's son.” They killed Askold and Dir, carried them up the hill, and buried them on the hill now called the Hungarian Hill, where Olma's courtyard is now. A church of St. Nicholas was put up on that grave, and Dir's grave is behind St. Irene's. Oleg sat as prince in Kyiv, and Oleg said: “Let this be the mother of the towns of Rus'.” He had with him Slovenes, Varangians, and others, and they were called Rus'. This Oleg began to set up towns and fixed tributes for the Slovenes, the Krivichians, and the Merians. He also set the tribute to be paid to the Varangians from Novgorod: 300 grivnas a year, for the sake of peace; this was paid to the Varangians until the death of Yaroslav.

In the year 6391. Oleg began to make war on the Derevlianians. After he had worn them down, he began to take tribute from them, one black marten skin apiece.

In the year 6392. Oleg went against the Severianians and defeated them. He laid a light tribute on them and did not let them pay tribute to the Khazars, saying: “I am their enemy; you owe them nothing.”

In the year 6393. Oleg sent to the Radimichians, asking: “To whom do you pay tribute?” They said: “To the Khazars.” Oleg said to them: “Do not give it to the Khazars; give it to me.” They gave Oleg one shcheliag apiece, as they had given the Khazars. Oleg held rule over the Derevlianians, the Polianians, and the Radimichians; with the Ulichians and the Tivertsians he had war.

In the year 6394.

In the year 6395. Leo, son of Basil, who was also called Lev, reigned with his brother Alexander; they reigned […] 26 years.

In the year 6396.

In the year 6397.

In the year 6398.

In the year 6399.

In the year 6400.

In the year 6401.

In the year 6402.

In the year 6403.

In the year 6404.

In the year 6405.

In the year 6406. The Magyars passed Kyiv along the hill that is now called Uhorske, and came to the Dnieper and camped there in tents, for they went about as the Cumans did. They had come from the east and pushed across the great mountains, which were named the Hungarian Mountains, and they began to make war on the people living there. Slavs and Vlachs had lived there before, and they had seized the land of Volhynia. Then the Magyars drove out the Vlachs, took that land as their own, and settled with the Slavs, having made them subject to themselves. From that time the land was called the Hungarian land. The Magyars began to make war on the Greeks, and they overran the land of Thrace and Macedonia as far as Thessalonica. They began to make war on Moravia and on the Czechs. For there was one Slavic language: the Slavs who lived along the Danube, whom the Magyars took over, and the Moravians, and the Czechs, and the Poles, and the Polianians, who now are called Rus'. For it was among these that books were first written down, in Moravia; that writing came to be called the Slavic script, and that script is in use in Rus' and among the Danube Bulgars.

When the baptized Slavs and their princes Rostislav, Svatopluk, and Kocel sent to Emperor Michael, they said: “Our land is baptized, and we have no teacher who would teach us, instruct us, and interpret the holy books for us. We understand neither the Greek language nor the Latin: one of them teaches us one way, and the other another, and so we do not understand the sense of the books or their power. Send us teachers who can explain to us the words of the books and their meaning.” Hearing this, Emperor Michael gathered all the philosophers and told them all that the Slavic princes had said. And the philosophers said: “There is a man in Thessalonica named Leo. He has sons who understand the Slavic language; he has two sons, skillful and philosophers.” Hearing this, the emperor sent to Thessalonica, to Leo, saying: “Send us your sons, Methodius and Constantine.” Hearing this, Leo quickly sent them. And they came to the emperor, and the emperor said to them: “The Slavic land has sent to me, asking for a teacher who could interpret the holy books for it; that is what they want.”

The emperor persuaded them, and he sent them to the Slavic land, to Rostislav, Svatopluk, and Kocel. When the two arrived, they began to compose the Slavic alphabet letters, and they translated the Apostolos and the Gospel. And the Slavs rejoiced, because they heard the greatness of God in their own language. Then they translated the Psalter, the Octoechos, and the other books. But some began to slander the Slavic books, saying: “No language should have its own letters, except the Hebrews and the Greeks and the Latins, according to Pilate's inscription, which he wrote on the Lord's cross.” Hearing this, the pope of Rome rebuked those who grumbled against the Slavic books, saying: “Let the word of Scripture be fulfilled: ‘Let all peoples praise God’; and again: ‘All tongues shall speak with different languages the greatness of God, as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak it out.’ Whoever slanders Slavic writing shall be cut off from the church until he mends his ways; they are wolves, not sheep, and one must know them by their fruits and guard against them. But you, children of God, listen to the teaching and do not reject the church's instruction, as Methodius your teacher taught you.”

Constantine went back again and went to teach the Bulgarian language, while Methodius stayed in Moravia. Then Prince Kocel made Methodius bishop in Pannonia, in the seat of the holy apostle Andronicus, one of the 70, a disciple of the holy apostle Paul. Methodius appointed 2 priests who were very fast writers, and he translated all the books in full from Greek into Slavic in six months, from the month of March to the 26th day of the month of October. When he finished, he gave worthy praise and glory to God, who gave such grace to Bishop Methodius, the occupant of Andronicus's seat. So the apostle Andronicus is the teacher of the Slavic language. For the apostle Paul also reached Moravia and taught there; Illyricum is there, which the apostle Paul reached, and the Slavs were there in the beginning. So the teacher of the Slavic language is Paul; we Rus' too are of that language. So the teacher of us Rus' is the apostle Paul, because he taught the Slavic language and appointed Andronicus after him as bishop and deputy for the Slavic language. And the Slavic language and the Rus' language are one.

For they were called Rus' from the Varangians, but at first they were Slavs; even though they were called Polianians, their speech was Slavic. They were named Polianians because they sat in the fields, and they had one language, the Slavic.

In the year 6407.

In the year 6408.

In the year 6409.

In the year 6410. Emperor Leo hired the Magyars against the Bulgars. The Magyars came upon them and plundered the whole Bulgarian land. When Simeon learned of it, he turned back against the Magyars; the Magyars marched out against him and defeated the Bulgars, so that Simeon barely escaped to Dorostolon.

In the year 6411. When Igor grew up, he went about after Oleg and obeyed him, and they brought him a wife from Pskov, named Olga.

In the year 6412.

In the year 6413.

In the year 6414.

In the year 6415. Oleg went against the Greeks, leaving Igor in Kyiv. He took a great many Varangians, and Slovenes, and Chud, and Krivichians, and Merians, and Polianians, and Severianians, and Derevlianians, and Radimichians, and Croats, and Dulebians, and Tivertsians, who are known as interpreters; all of these were called Great Scythia. With all of these Oleg set out on horses and in boats, and the boats were 2000 in number. He came to Constantinople, and the Greeks closed off the Sud and shut themselves in the city. Oleg went ashore and ordered his troops to haul the boats up onto the shore, and he made war around the city and did much killing among the Greeks. They broke down many palaces and burned the churches, and of the prisoners they had taken they cut some down, tortured others, shot others, and threw others into the sea; and the Rus' did many other evils to the Greeks, as enemies do in war.

Oleg ordered his troops to make wheels and set the boats on wheels. When a following wind rose, they raised the sails from the plain, and the boats moved toward the city. The Greeks saw it and were afraid, and sent word to Oleg: “Do not destroy the city; we will submit to tribute, as you wish.” Oleg stopped his troops, and they brought him food and wine, and he would not take it, for it had been prepared with poison. The Greeks were afraid and said: “This is not Oleg, but Saint Demetrius, sent against us by God.” And Oleg ordered tribute paid on the 2000 boats, 12 grivnas per man, with 40 men in each boat.

The Greeks agreed to this, and began to ask for peace, so that he would not wage war on the Greek land. Oleg, having withdrawn a little from the city, began to make peace with the two Greek emperors, Leo and Alexander. He sent to them into the city Karl, Farlaf, Velmud, Rulav, and Stemid, saying: “Submit to me in tribute.” And the Greeks said: “Tell us what you want, and we will give it to you.” And Oleg ordered the troops paid on the 2000 boats, 12 grivnas per rowlock, and after that payment made to the Rus' cities: first to Kyiv, then to Chernihiv, and to Pereiaslav, and to Polotsk, and to Rostov, and to Liubech, and to the other cities, for princes sat in those cities under Oleg.

“The Rus' who come may take provisions, as much as they want, and the merchants who come may take a monthly allowance for 6 months: bread, and wine, and meat, and fish, and fruit. They shall be given baths whenever they want. And when the Rus' go home, they shall take from your emperor for the journey food, and anchors, and ropes, and sails, and whatever they need.” The Greeks agreed, and the emperors and all the boyars said: “If the Rus' come without trading, they shall not take the monthly allowance. Let the prince forbid his own people, the Rus' who come here, to do harm in our villages and in our country. The Rus' who come shall stay at Saint Mamas; let our empire write down their names, and then they shall take their monthly allowance — first those from the city of Kyiv, and then those from Chernihiv and Pereiaslav and the other cities. And they shall enter the city by one gate only, together with an officer of the emperor, without weapons, 50 men at a time, and trade as they need, paying no toll on anything.”

Emperor Leo and Alexander made peace with Oleg, agreeing on tribute, and swore oaths between themselves: they kissed the cross themselves, while Oleg and his men were sworn according to the Rus' law — they swore by their weapons, and by Perun, their god, and by Volos, the god of cattle, and they confirmed the peace. And Oleg said: “Sew sails of silk for the Rus', and of linen for the Slavs.” And so it was done. They hung their shields on the gates as a sign of victory, and Oleg set out from Constantinople. The Rus' raised sails of silk, and the Slavs raised linen ones, and the wind tore them. And the Slavs said: “Let us keep to our own thick canvas — linen sails were not given to the Slavs.” And Oleg came to Kyiv bringing gold, and silks, and fruits, and wines, and every kind of precious thing. And they called Oleg “the Seer,” for the people were pagans and untaught.

In the year 6416.

In the year 6417.

In the year 6418.

In the year 6419. A great star appeared in the west, shaped like a spear.

In the year 6420. Oleg sent his men to arrange peace and set down terms between the Greeks and Rus', and sent them with this message:

“Copy of the second agreement, made under the same emperors Leo and Alexander. We, of the Rus' people — Karl, Inegeld, Farlaf, Veremud, Rulav, Gudy, Ruald, Karn, Frelav, Ruar, Aktevu, Truan, Lidul, Fost, Stemir — sent by Oleg, grand prince of Rus', and by all the bright boyars who are under his hand, to you, Leo and Alexander and Constantine, great self-rulers in God, emperors of the Greeks, to keep and declare the love that has existed for many years between the Christians and Rus', at the wish of our princes and by the command of all the Rus' who are under his hand. We of honored rank have judged it right — more than others who might wish in God to hold and declare such love, which has been between Christians and Rus' many times — not only to say it in plain words, but to declare and establish this love in writing and with a firm oath, swearing on our weapons, according to our faith and our law.

“These are the articles, because we have joined together in God's faith and love. First, let us be at peace with you, Greeks, and love one another with all our soul and all our will; and, so far as our will goes, we will not let any offense or wrong come from those who are under the hand of our bright princes. But we shall strive, as far as we can, to keep it for the future and for all years with you, Greeks — a love declared by word and by writing, with an oath, unchanging and without reproach. And you Greeks, keep the same love toward our bright Rus' princes and toward all who are under the hand of our bright prince — without offense and without change, always and in all years.

“About the matters where a wrong happens, let us settle it this way: whatever is clearly shown by open evidence, let them believe the evidence about such matters. But the party that begins to refuse belief must swear — the party that seeks proof by refusing belief; and when it swears according to its own faith, then let the punishment be as the offense proves to be.

“On this: if a Rus' kills a Christian, or a Christian kills a Rus', let him die on the spot where he commits the murder. If the murderer runs away and has property, let the nearest kinsman of the killed man take that part of the murderer's property which by law is his, and let the murderer's wife keep what remains hers by law. If the killer is poor and runs away, let him remain under the charge until he is found, and then let him die.

“If anyone strikes with a sword, or beats with any vessel whatever, for that striking or beating let him pay 5 pounds of silver, according to the Rus' law. If the one who did it is poor, let him pay as much as he can, and let him take off and give the very clothes he wears; and for the rest let him swear on his own faith that no one else can help him pay, and from then on the claim is not pursued.

“On this: if a Rus' steals anything from a Christian, or a Christian from a Rus', and the owner catches the thief at the very moment he commits the theft, as he is preparing to steal, and kills him, his death shall not be demanded either by the Christians or by the Rus'; rather, let the owner take back what he lost. And if the thief gives himself up, let him be seized by the one from whom he stole, and be bound, and give back what he dared to take, and restore it threefold.

“On this: if anyone, Rus' or Christian, torments the other in any way, or openly does violence, or takes anything of his by force, let him pay it back threefold.

“If a boat is thrown by a great wind onto a foreign land, and some of our Rus' are found there, then if anyone comes to help fit out the boat with its cargo and send it back to the Christian land, let us escort it through every dangerous place until it comes to a place safe from danger. But if such a boat cannot return to its own home because of a storm, or because the land itself blocks it, we Rus' will help row the boat and bring it, with their goods, safe and sound. And if this happens near the Greek land — and if the same misfortune happens to a Rus' boat — let us escort it to the Rus' land, and let them sell the cargo of that boat, and whatever part of the boat itself can be sold; we Rus' will haul it out for them. And when we go into […] the Greeks, either on trade or on an errand to your emperor, let us pass with honor, with the sold cargo of their boats. And if anyone from that boat is killed or beaten by us Rus', or anything is taken from it, those who did it shall be liable to the penalty named above.

“If a captive is held on either side, Rus' or Greek, and is sold into another country: if a Rus' or a Greek finds him, let them ransom him and return the ransomed person to his own country, and let those who bought him take his price, or the slave price reckoned for him in the purchase. The same applies if he is taken in war: let him likewise be returned by those Greeks to his own country, and let his price be paid, as said above, as in the purchase.

“And when there is a call to go to war, when you raise your levy, and these men want to honor your emperor: if at any time as many of them as come wish to stay with your emperor of their own will, let them stay.

“About Rus', about captivity. Many times captives come to Rus' from whatever country and are sold to the Christians; and likewise Christian captives, taken many times from whatever country, come to Rus', and are sold at 20 gold pieces each, and then go on to the Greeks.

“On this: if a Rus' slave is stolen, or runs away, or is sold under compulsion, and the Rus' begin to complain, let proof be made about the slave, and let them take him back to Rus'. So too, if merchants lose a slave and complain, let them search for him, and if he is found, let them take him. But if the local official will not allow this search to be made, he shall forfeit his case.

“About Rus' serving in Greece with the Christian emperor. If one of them dies without having arranged his property, and has no kin of his own, let his property be sent back to his nearest relatives in Rus'. But if he has made such an arrangement, let whoever he has named in writing to inherit his property take what he arranged and inherit it.

“About the Rus' who carry on trade.

“About the various men who go to Greece and stay on there. If a criminal does not return to Rus', let the Rus' complain to the Christian empire; let such a man be seized and returned to Rus', willing or not. And the Rus' shall do all these same things for the Greeks, wherever such a case happens.

“To confirm and make firm the peace between you Christians and Rus', we have drawn up this agreement in writing, in two copies — by the hand of your emperor and by our own hand — laid before the honored cross and the holy consubstantial Trinity, the one true God of you Christians, to certify to our envoys. And we swore to your emperor, who is from God, as God's creation, according to the law and the custom of our people, that neither we nor anyone from our country will break the settled articles of peace and love. And we have given such a writing to your empire, so that this agreement may stand firm for both sides, confirming and declaring the peace made between us. In the month of September, on the 2nd, in indiction 15, in the year from the creation of the world 6420.”

Emperor Leo honored the Rus' envoys with gifts — gold, and silks, and rich robes — and set his men over them to show them the beauty of the churches, and the golden palaces, and the riches kept in them: much gold, and silks, and precious stones, and the Passion of the Lord — the crown, and the nails, and the purple robe — and the relics of the saints. Thus he taught them toward his own faith, showing them the true faith. And so he sent them back to their own land with great honor. The envoys sent by Oleg came to Oleg and told him everything the two emperors had said: how they had made peace and set terms between the Greek land and the Rus' land, and had sworn oaths that neither the Greeks nor the Rus' would break them.

Oleg lived in peace with all countries, ruling in Kyiv. When autumn came, Oleg remembered his horse, the one he had set aside to be fed and never ridden. For he had once asked the sorcerers and fortune-tellers: “Of what am I to die?” And one fortune-teller said to him: “Prince! The horse you love and ride — from that horse you will die.” Oleg took this to heart and said: “I will never mount that horse again, and I will never see it more.” He ordered it fed and never brought to him, and for several years he did not see it, until he went against the Greeks. When he came back to Kyiv and had stayed 4 years, in the 5th year he remembered his horse, from which the sorcerers had said Oleg would die. He called the chief of his grooms and said: “Where is my horse, which I ordered fed and cared for?” He answered: “He is dead.” Oleg laughed and mocked the fortune-teller, saying: “What the sorcerers say is wrong; it is all a lie: the horse is dead, and I am alive.” He ordered a horse saddled: “I want to see its bones.” He rode to the place where the bare bones lay and the bare skull, got down from his horse, laughed, and said: “Is it from this skull that death is to take me?” He set his foot on the skull, and a snake crawled out and bit him in the foot. From that he fell ill and died. All the people wept for him with a great weeping, and they carried him and buried him on the hill that is called Shchekovitsa; his grave is there to this day, and it is called Oleg's Grave. And all the years of his reign were 33.

This is not strange, that what sorcery says comes true through magic. Just as in the reign of Domitian there was a certain sorcerer named Apollonius of Tyana, widely known, who traveled everywhere, working in towns and in villages wonders of demons. For coming from Rome into Byzantium, he was asked by the people living there to do this: he drove a multitude of snakes and scorpions out of the city, so that people would not be hurt by them, and he bridled the mad fury of the horses when the boyars gathered. So too he came to Antioch and was asked by its people, for the Antiochenes were tormented by scorpions and mosquitoes; he made scorpions of bronze and buried them in the earth, and set a small marble pillar over them. He ordered people to hold reeds, walk about the city, and cry out, shaking the reeds: “A city free of mosquitoes.” So the mosquitoes and scorpions vanished from the city.

Then they asked him again about the earthquake hanging over the city. He sighed and wrote on a tablet these words: “Woe to you, wretched city! You will be shaken greatly; you will be seized by fire; and by the bank of your Orontes there will be weeping for you.” Of this the great Anastasius of the city of God also spoke: “With Apollonius, even to this day the things he made still work in certain places: some of them stand to turn away four-footed beasts and birds that can harm people, and others to hold back the streams of rivers that flow without check; but other things of his stand to people's ruin and harm, driving them to flight. And the demons did such things for his sake not only while he lived; even after his death they stayed at his tomb, working signs in his name, to deceive wretched people, whom the devil especially steals toward such things.” What then can anyone say of those who work magic deeds?

For such a man was so skilled in magical deception that — as Apollonius knew, mocking the soldier as one who did not carry that philosophical art in himself — it became him to say, as it were, “I do by word alone whatever they wish,” instead of accomplishing in deed what he was commanded. All this happens by God's permitting and by the working of demons, to test our most glorious faith with such things; if it is firm, staying sincere toward the Lord, it is not dragged away by the enemy for the sake of counterfeit wonders and satanic deeds done by the slaves and servants of evil. And second, some even prophesied in the name of the Lord, such as Balaam, and Saul, and Caiaphas; and cast out demons, as Judas and the sons of Sceva did. So grace works often even on the unworthy, to give witness through them: for Balaam was a stranger to both — a noble life and the faith — yet the witness was in him, grace for the sake of God's ordering of others. And Pharaoh was like that, yet the things to come were shown even to him.

And lawless Nebuchadnezzar — yet to him too the things to come were revealed again, among many things, in the midst of the city. By this it is shown that many, though they have the keenest mind, work signs in the image of Christ by another trick, to deceive people who do not know the good, as Simon the sorcerer was, and Menander, and others of that kind. Truly it is said: “Do not deceive by wonders…”

In the year 6421. Igor began to reign after Oleg. At this time Constantine, son of Leo, son-in-law of Romanos, began to reign as emperor. And the Derevlianians rebelled against Igor after Oleg's death.

In the year 6422. Igor went against the Derevlianians and, having defeated them, laid on them a tribute greater than Oleg's. In the same year Simeon the Bulgarian came to Constantinople and, having made peace, went home.

In the year 6423. The Pechenegs came for the first time to the Rus' land and, having made peace with Igor, went on to the Danube. At the same time Simeon came, plundering Thrace. The Greeks sent for the Pechenegs. When the Pechenegs had come and were ready to attack Simeon, the Greek commanders quarreled among themselves. Seeing that the Greeks were taking up strife against each other, the Pechenegs went away home; but the Bulgars joined battle with the Greeks, and the Greeks were cut down. Simeon took the city of Adrianople, which was at first called Orestes’ city, after the son of Agamemnon, who first bathed in three rivers and was freed of his sickness there, and for that reason named the city after his own name. Later the emperor Hadrian renewed it and named it after his own name — Hadrian; and we call the city Adrianople.

In the year 6424.

In the year 6425.

In the year 6426.

In the year 6427.

In the year 6428. Romanos was made emperor in Greece. Igor made war on the Pechenegs.

In the year 6429.

In the year 6430.

In the year 6431.

In the year 6432.

In the year 6433.

In the year 6434.

In the year 6435.

In the year 6436.

In the year 6437. Simeon came against Constantinople and plundered Thrace and Macedonia, and came to Constantinople with great force and in pride, and made peace with Emperor Romanos and returned home.

In the year 6438.

In the year 6439.

In the year 6440.

In the year 6441.

In the year 6442. The Magyars came for the first time to Constantinople and plundered all of Thrace. Romanos made peace with the Magyars.

In the year 6443.

In the year 6444.

In the year 6445.

In the year 6446.

In the year 6447.

In the year 6448.

In the year 6449. Igor went against the Greeks. And when the Bulgars sent word to the emperor that the Rus' were coming against Constantinople, 10 thousand boats, the Rus' set out and sailed in, and began to make war on the lands of Bithynia, and plundered along the Pontus as far as Heraclea and as far as the Paphlagonian land, and took the whole region of Nicomedia captive, and burned the whole Sud. Of those they captured, they stretched some apart; others they set up facing them and shot with arrows, and broke them with their hands tied behind their backs, and drove iron nails into the middle of their heads. And they gave many holy churches to the fire, and took much property on both sides.

Then, when troops came from the east — Panfir the domestikos with 40 thousand, and Phokas the patrician with the Macedonians, and Theodore the stratelates with the Thracians, and with them the ranking courtiers — they surrounded the Rus'. And the Rus' took counsel and came out against them, armed against the Greeks, and the battle between them was fierce, and the Greeks barely won. The Rus' returned to their company toward evening, and at night got into their boats and fled away. Theophanes met them in boats with fire, and began to shoot fire through tubes at the Rus' boats. And it was a terrible wonder to see. Seeing the flame, the Rus' threw themselves into the sea, trying to escape, and so the rest returned home.

And so, when they came back to their own land, each told his own people about what had happened, and about the fire from the boats: “The Greeks,” they said, “have in them, as it were, the lightning that is in the heavens, and letting it loose, they burned us; that is why we did not defeat them.” And Igor, having come back, began to gather many troops, and sent for Varangians across the sea, inviting them to attack the Greeks, intending to march against them again.

In the year 6450. Simeon went against the Croats, was defeated by the Croats, and died, leaving his son Peter to reign. In that same year Sviatoslav was born to Igor.

In the year 6451. The Magyars came again to Constantinople and, having made peace with Romanos, returned home.

In the year 6452. Igor gathered many troops — Varangians, and Rus', and Polianians, and Slovenes, and Krivichians, and Tivertsians — and hired Pechenegs, taking hostages from them, and set out against the Greeks in boats and on horses, wanting to take revenge. Hearing this, the people of Korsun sent to Romanos, saying: “See, the Rus' are coming; they have covered the sea with boats.” So too the Bulgars sent word, saying: “The Rus' are coming, and they have hired Pechenegs to their side.” Hearing this, the emperor sent his best boyars to Igor, asking him and saying: “Do not come, but take the tribute that Oleg took, and I will add still more to that tribute.” So too they sent silks and much gold to the Pechenegs. When Igor reached the Danube, he called his retinue together, began to take counsel, and told them the emperor's message. And Igor's retinue said: “If the emperor speaks like this, what more do we want? To take gold, and silver, and silks without fighting? Who knows who will win — we or they? And who can stand against the sea? We do not walk on land here, but in the depths of the sea — death is shared by all.” And Igor listened to them, and ordered the Pechenegs to make war on the Bulgarian land, while he himself, taking gold and silks from the Greeks for all his troops, turned back and came to Kyiv.

In the year 6453. Romanos, Constantine, and Stephen sent envoys to Igor to arrange a first peace. Igor spoke with them about peace. Igor sent his men to Romanos. Romanos gathered his boyars and dignitaries. They brought in the Rus' envoys and ordered the words of both sides to be spoken and written on parchment:

“A copy of the second agreement, made under Emperor Romanos, Constantine, and Stephen, rulers who love Christ. We are envoys and merchants from the Rus' people: Ivor, envoy of Igor, grand prince of Rus', and the common envoys: Vuefast for Sviatoslav, Igor's son; Iskusevi for Princess Olga; Sludy for Igor, Igor's nephew; Uleb for Volodislav; Kanitsar for Predslava; Shigobern for Sfandra, Uleb's wife; Prasten son of Turduv; Libiar son of Fast; Grim son of Sfirk; Prasten Yakun, Igor's nephew; Kary son of Tudka; Karshev son of Tudor; Egri son of Erlik; Voistov son of Iko; Istr son of Yamind; Yatviag son of Gunar; Shibrid Aldan; Kol son of Klek; Steggi son of Eton; Sfirka; Alvad son of Gud; Fudri son of Tulb; Mutor Utin; and the merchants Adun, Adolb, Angivlad, Uleb, Frutan, Gomol, Kutsi, Emig, Turbrid, Fursten, Bruny, Roald, Gunastr, Frasten, Ingeld, Turbern and the other Turbern, Uleb, Turben, Mony, Ruald, Sven, Stir, Aldan, Tilii, Apubkar, Sven, Vuzelev, and Sinko the herald. They were sent by Igor, grand prince of Rus', by all the princes, and by all the people of the Rus' land. Through them it was commanded to renew the old peace, broken for many years by the devil, who hates good and loves strife, and to establish love between the Greeks and Rus'.

Our grand prince Igor, his boyars, and all the Rus' people sent us to Romanos, Stephen, and Constantine, the great Greek emperors, to make peace with the emperors themselves and with all their boyars and all the Greek people for all the years, as long as the sun shines and the world stands.

Whoever from the Rus' side plans to break such love: those of them who have received baptism, may they receive vengeance from God almighty, condemnation and destruction in this age and in the age to come; and those of them who are not baptized, may they have no help from God or from Perun, may their shields not protect them, may they be cut down by their own swords and by their arrows and their other weapons, and may they be slaves in this age and in the next.

The grand prince of Rus' and his boyars shall send to the Greeks, to the great Greek emperors, as many ships as they wish, with their envoys and merchants, as has been set down for them. In earlier times the envoys carried gold seals, and the merchants silver ones. Now your prince has learned to send a letter to our empire: when envoys and merchants are sent by him, let them bring a letter written as follows: ‘I have sent so many ships.’ From it we too will know that they come in peace. If they come without a letter, they shall be handed over to us, held and kept, until we inform your prince. If they do not submit and resist, they shall be killed, and your prince shall have no claim for their deaths. If they run away and come back to Rus', we will write to your prince, and he will do with them as he pleases. And if Rus' people come without trading, they shall not receive the monthly allowance. The prince shall also forbid his own men and the Rus' who come here to do violence in the villages or anywhere in our country.

When they come, they shall be lodged at St. Mamas', and word shall be sent to our empire, and it shall write down their names. Then they shall receive what is theirs: the envoys their monthly stipend, and the merchants their monthly allowance, first those from the city of Kyiv, then those from Chernihiv and from Pereiaslav and the other cities. They shall enter the city by one gate, with the emperor's man, unarmed, 50 men, and trade as they need, and then go out again; and the man of our empire shall watch over them, so that if anyone of the Rus' or of the Greeks does wrong, the wrong may be made right. When the Rus' enter the city, they shall do no harm, and they may not buy silks worth more than fifty zolotniks apiece. Whoever buys any of those silks shall show them to the emperor's man, and he shall seal them and give them to them.

When the Rus' leave here, they take from us food for the road and whatever their boats need, as was settled at first, and they return in safety to their own land; and they may not stay for the winter at St. Mamas'.

If a servant runs away from the Rus' once they have come into the land of our empire, or from St. Mamas', and he is found, they shall seize him. If he is not found, then our Christian Rus' shall swear an oath, and the non-Christians shall swear by their own law; then they shall take their price from us, as was settled before: 2 silks for a servant.

If anyone from the people of our empire, from our city or from other cities, runs away to you with a servant of ours and brings anything, they shall send it back again, and if everything the servant took is still whole, two zolotniks shall be paid from it as a reward for catching him.

If anyone dares to seize something from the Rus' or from the people of our empire, whoever does this shall be severely punished; and if he has taken something, he shall pay back double. If a Greek does the same to a Rus' man, he shall receive the same punishment as the other.

If it happens that a Rus' man steals something from a Greek, or a Greek from a Rus' man, it is right that he give back not only the thing itself but also its price. If what was stolen is found being sold, he shall pay double its price, and he shall be punished by Greek law, by the Greek statute, and by the law of Rus'.

And whenever the Rus' bring in a Christian from our land as a captive, whether a young man or a fine maiden, they shall give 10 zolotniks and take the person. If the captive is middle-aged, he shall give 8 zolotniks and take the person. If the captive is old or a child, he shall give 5 zolotniks.

If Rus' people are found working for Greeks as captives, the Rus' may ransom them for 10 zolotniks. If a Greek has bought them, he shall swear on the cross and take back the price he paid for them.

About the country of Cherson. However many cities there are in that part, the Rus' princes shall not have the right to make war on those lands, and that land shall not be subject to you. When the Rus' prince asks us for troops, we will give him as many as he needs, and he may make war.

And on this: if the Rus' find a Greek ship cast ashore in any place, they shall do it no harm. If anyone takes anything from it, or enslaves or kills a man, he shall be answerable under the law of Rus' and under Greek law.

And if the Rus' find Cherson men fishing at the mouth of the Dnieper, they shall do them no harm at all.

And the Rus' shall not have the right to spend the winter at the mouth of the Dnieper, at Beloberezhie, or at St. Eleutherius'; when autumn comes, they shall go home to Rus'.

And about those who come—the Black Bulgars—and raid the country of Cherson: we command the Rus' prince not to let them pass, so that they do no harm to his land.

Or if some crime is done by Greeks who are under the authority of our empire, you shall not have the right to punish them; by the command of our empire he shall receive what he deserves for what he did.

And if a Christian kills a Rus' man, the killer shall be held by the kinsmen of the killed man, and they shall kill him. If he runs away after the murder, and he has property, the kinsmen of the killed man shall take it; if the killer has nothing and escapes, they shall hunt for him until he is found, and he shall be killed.

Or if a Rus' man strikes a Greek with a sword, or a spear, or any other weapon, or a Greek strikes a Rus' man, for that offense he shall pay 5 litras of silver by the law of Rus'. If he is too poor to pay, he shall be sold for all he can fetch; even the clothes he wears shall be taken off him. For the rest he shall swear by his own faith that he has nothing, and then he shall be let go.

And if our empire ever wants troops from you against those who resist us, we shall write to your grand prince, and he shall send us as many as we want; and from this other lands will learn what love the Greeks and Rus' have for each other.

We have set the whole agreement down on two charters. One charter is with our empire; on it are a cross and our names written, and on the other your envoys and your merchants. As they leave, the envoys of our empire shall take it to grand prince Igor of Rus' and to his people, and they, receiving the charter, shall swear an oath to keep what is right, as we agreed and wrote on this charter, on which our names are written.

We who are baptized have sworn by the cathedral church of St. Elias, by the honored cross that lies before us, and by this charter, to keep everything written on it and never to break any of it. If anyone on our side breaks this—the prince, or anyone else, baptized or unbaptized—may he have no help from God, may he be a slave in this age and in the next, and may he be killed by his own weapons.

And the unbaptized Rus' shall lay down their shields, their bare swords, their arm rings, and their other weapons, and shall swear to all that is written on this charter: that Igor and all his boyars and all the people and all the land of Rus' shall keep it in the years to come and forever.

But if anyone of the princes or of the Rus' people, Christian or unbaptized, breaks all that is written on this charter, he deserves to die by his own weapons, and may he be cursed by God and by Perun, for he has broken his oath.

So may it be well: may grand prince Igor keep this whole true love unbroken, as long as the sun shines and the world stands, in this age and in the age to come.”

The envoys sent by Igor came back to Igor with the Greek envoys and reported all the words of Emperor Romanos. Igor called the Greek envoys and said: “Speak: what did the emperor tell you?” The emperor's envoys said: “The emperor has sent us; he is glad of peace and wants to have peace and friendship with the Rus' prince. Your envoys led our emperor through his oath, and they sent us to lead you and your men through yours.” Igor promised to do so. The next day Igor called the envoys and came to the hill where Perun stood. They laid down their weapons, shields, and gold, and Igor and his men swore, as many as were pagan Rus'; the Christian Rus' were led into the church of St. Elias, which stands above the Stream at the edge of the Pasynets court, and so were the Khazars, for that was a cathedral church, and many of the Varangians were Christians. Igor, having confirmed the peace with the Greeks, let the envoys go, giving them furs, servants, and wax, and sent them off. The envoys came to the emperor and reported all Igor's words and his friendship toward the Greeks.

And Igor began to rule in Kyiv, keeping peace with all lands. Autumn came, and he began to plan against the Derevlianians, wanting to add a larger tribute.

In the year 6453. Igor's retinue said to him: “Sveneld's pages have outfitted themselves with weapons and fine clothes, and we are bare. Come with us, prince, to collect tribute, so that you win something and we too.” Igor listened to them and went to Dereva land for tribute. He added to the first tribute, and he and his men used force against the people. He took the tribute and set off for his city. On the way back he thought it over and said to his retinue: “You go home with the tribute; I will turn back and go around again.” He sent his retinue home and came back with only a small band, wanting greater wealth. The Derevlianians heard that he was coming again. They took counsel with their prince Mal and said: “If a wolf gets in among the sheep, he carries off the whole flock one by one, unless he is killed. So with this one: if we do not kill him, he will destroy us all.” They sent men to him to say: “Why do you come again? You have taken all the tribute.” Igor did not listen to them. They came out of the city of Iskorosten against him and killed Igor and his men, for they were few. Igor was buried, and his grave is by the city of Iskorosten in Dereva land to this day.

Olga was in Kyiv with her son Sviatoslav, who was still a small child. His tutor was Asmud, and his general was Sveneld—the same Sveneld who was Mstisha's father. The Derevlianians said: “We have killed the Rus' prince. We will take his wife Olga as wife for our prince Mal, and Sviatoslav we will deal with as we please.” The Derevlianians chose 20 of their best men and sent them by boat to Olga. They moored their boats below Borichev. In those days the water flowed along the foot of the Kyiv hill, and people did not live down by the water but up on the hill. The city of Kyiv then stood where the courts of Gordiata and Nikephoros are now, and the prince's court in the city was where the courts of Vratislav and Chudin are now, and the ferry landing was outside the city. The terem court and the other court stood where the demestiki's court is now, behind the church of the Holy Mother of God, up on the hill; there was a stone terem there. Olga was told that the Derevlianians had come. She called them to her and said: “Good day, merchants. So you have come?” The Derevlianians said: “We have come, princess.”

Olga said to them: “Tell me, why have you come here?” The Derevlianians said: “Dereva land sent us with this message: We killed your husband, because your husband was like a wolf, snatching and robbing, while our princes are good men who have made Dereva land prosper. So come and marry our prince Mal.” (His name was Mal; he was prince of the Derevlianians.) Olga said to them: “Your words please me. I cannot bring my husband back to life. But tomorrow I will honor you before my people. Now go to your boat and lie down in it, boasting proudly. In the morning I will send for you. You are to say: ‘We will not go on horseback, and we will not walk—carry us in the boat.’ Then they will carry you in the boat.” She sent them to their boat. Olga ordered a great deep pit dug in the terem courtyard outside the city. In the morning Olga, sitting in her terem, sent for the guests. Messengers came to them and said: “Olga calls you to great honor.” They said: “We will not go on horseback, nor in wagons, nor on foot—carry us in the boat.” The people of Kyiv said: “We have no choice: our prince is dead, and our princess wants to marry your prince.” And they carried them in the boat. They sat in the stern, in magnificent robes, puffed up with pride.

They carried them to Olga's court and, as they carried them, threw them into the pit together with the boat. Olga bent over the pit and said to them: “Is this honor good for you?” They said: “It is worse for us than Igor's death.” She ordered them buried alive, and they were covered over.

Olga sent this word to the Derevlianians: “If you truly want me, send your chief men to me, so that I may go to your prince with great honor; otherwise the people of Kyiv will not let me go.” When they heard this, the Derevlianians chose the leading men who governed Dereva land and sent them. When the Derevlianians arrived, Olga ordered a bathhouse made ready and said: “Wash yourselves, and then come to me.” They heated the bathhouse, and the Derevlianians went in and began to wash. The bathhouse was locked behind them, and Olga ordered it set on fire from the doors, and they all burned there.

Then she sent this word to the Derevlianians: “Now I am coming to you. Prepare plenty of mead in the town where you killed my husband, so that I may weep over his grave and hold a funeral feast for my husband.” When they heard this, they brought together a great deal of mead. Olga took a small retinue and traveled light. She came to the grave and wept over her husband. She ordered the people to heap up a great mound, and when it was heaped up, she ordered a funeral feast held. Then the Derevlianians sat down to drink, and Olga told her pages to serve them. The Derevlianians said to Olga: “Where are our friends whom we sent to fetch you?” She said: “They are coming behind me with my husband's retinue.” When the Derevlianians were drunk, Olga told her pages to drink to them. She herself went away, and then ordered the pages to cut them down, and the pages killed 5000 of them. Olga returned to Kyiv and prepared her troops against the rest.

The beginning of the reign of Sviatoslav.

In the year 6454. Olga and her son Sviatoslav gathered a large and brave army and marched on Dereva land. The Derevlianians came out against them. When the two armies met in battle, Sviatoslav threw his spear at the Derevlianians. The spear flew between the ears of his horse and struck the horse's legs, for he was still very much a child. Sveneld and Asmud said: “The prince has already begun—follow the prince, men!” And they defeated the Derevlianians. The Derevlianians fled and shut themselves up in their towns. Olga hastened with her son to the town of Iskorosten, because they had killed her husband there, and she camped around the town with her son. The Derevlianians shut themselves inside and fought hard from the town, for they knew that they had killed the prince themselves and that giving themselves up would gain them nothing. Olga stood before the town the whole year and could not take it. Then she thought of this: she sent word to the town, saying: “What are you waiting for? All your other towns have surrendered to me and agreed to pay tribute; they till their fields and work their land. Do you want to die of hunger, refusing to pay tribute?”

The Derevlianians said: “We would gladly agree to pay tribute, but you want revenge for your husband.” Olga said to them: “I have already taken revenge for my husband, when you came to Kyiv, and the second time, and the third time, when you held the funeral feast for my husband. I do not want revenge anymore. I want to take only a small tribute, make peace with you, and go back.” The Derevlianians said: “What do you want from us? We will gladly give honey and furs.” She said to them: “You have no honey or furs now. I ask little of you: give me three pigeons and three sparrows from each household. I do not want to lay a heavy tribute on you, as my husband did. I ask this little, because you are worn out by the siege.” The Derevlianians were glad. They gathered three pigeons and three sparrows from each household and sent them to Olga with bows.

Olga said to them: “Now you have submitted to me and to my child. Go into your town, and tomorrow I will lift the siege and go away to my own city.” The Derevlianians were glad. They went into the town and told the people, and the people of the town rejoiced. Olga gave her soldiers pigeons and sparrows: to some a pigeon, to others a sparrow. She ordered a piece of tinder tied to each pigeon and sparrow, wrapped in small cloths and bound with thread to every pigeon and sparrow. When it grew dark, Olga told her soldiers to release the pigeons and sparrows. The pigeons and sparrows flew to their homes: the pigeons to their dovecotes, the sparrows under the rooftops. The dovecotes caught fire, and from them the storehouses and the hay barns. There was no courtyard where nothing burned, and there was no way to put the fire out, because all the courtyards caught fire at once. The people fled from the town, and Olga told her soldiers to seize them.

She took the town and burned it. She took the elders of the town prisoner. Of the rest of the people she killed some, and gave others to her men as slaves, and left the remainder to pay tribute.

She laid a heavy tribute on them: two parts of it went to Kyiv, and the third part to Vyshhorod, to Olga, for Vyshhorod was Olga's town. Olga went through Dereva land with her son and her retinue, setting up rules and fixed payments, and her stopping places and her hunting grounds are still there. She came to her own city of Kyiv with her son Sviatoslav. After spending one year there, in the year 6455 Olga went to Novgorod. She set up trading posts and tribute along the Msta, and trading posts and tribute and dues along the Luga. Her hunting grounds are all through the land, and her boundary marks, her places, and her trading posts. Her sleigh still stands in Pskov to this day, and her bird-snaring grounds are on the Dnieper and on the Desna, and her village of Olzhichi is there to this day. When she had finished all this, she returned to her son in Kyiv, and she lived with him in love.

In the year 6456.

In the year 6457.

In the year 6458.

In the year 6459.

In the year 6460.

In the year 6461.

In the year 6462.

In the year 6463. Olga went to the Greeks and came to Constantinople. The emperor at that time was Constantine, son of Leo. He saw that she was fair of face and very intelligent, and the emperor marveled at her understanding. He talked with her and said to her: “You are fit to reign in this city with us.” She understood him and said to the emperor: “I am a pagan. If you want to baptize me, then baptize me yourself. If not, I will not be baptized.” The emperor baptized her together with the patriarch. Once she was enlightened, she rejoiced in soul and body. The patriarch taught her about the faith and said to her: “Blessed are you among the princes of Rus', for you loved the light and left the darkness behind. The sons of Rus' will bless you, and your grandchildren will bless you to the last generation.” He gave her commands about church order, about prayer, about fasting, about almsgiving, and about keeping the body pure. She bowed her head and stood like a sponge soaking up water, taking in the teaching. Bowing to the patriarch, she said: “By your prayers, master, may I be kept from the net of the enemy.”

The name given to her at baptism was Helena, like the empress of old, the mother of Constantine the Great. The patriarch blessed her and sent her off. After the baptism, the emperor called her to him and said to her: “I want to take you as my wife.” She answered: “How can you want to take me, when you yourself baptized me and named me your daughter? Among Christians that is not permitted by law, and you know it yourself.” The emperor said: “Olga, you have outwitted me.” He gave her many gifts—gold and silver, silks, and vessels of many kinds—and sent her off, calling her his daughter. She wanted to go home, so she came to the patriarch to ask his blessing for the journey home, and said to him: “My people are pagans, and my son too. May God keep me from every evil.” The patriarch said: “Faithful child! You were baptized in Christ and have put on Christ, and Christ will keep you. As he kept Enoch in the first generations, then Noah in the ark, Abraham from Abimelech, Lot from the men of Sodom, Moses from Pharaoh, David from Saul, the three youths in the furnace, and Daniel among the beasts, so he will deliver you from the enemy and his snares.”

The patriarch blessed her, and she went in peace to her own land and came to Kyiv.

This happened just as it did in Solomon's time, when the Ethiopian empress came, wanting to hear Solomon's wisdom and to see his great wisdom and his signs. So the blessed Olga sought the good wisdom of God: that empress had sought human wisdom, while she sought the wisdom of God. “Those who seek wisdom will find it.” “Wisdom sings at the street corners; on the roads she guides with boldness; on the tops of the fortified walls she proclaims; at the gates of the city she speaks boldly: ‘For how many years will the guileless hold to what is just…’” From her youth the blessed Helena searched with wisdom for what is best in this world, and she found the pearl of great price, which is Christ. Solomon said: “The desire of the faithful delights the soul”; and “Apply your heart to understanding”; “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me”; for the Lord said: “Whoever comes to me I will not cast out.”

Olga came to Kyiv and, as we have said, the Greek emperor sent messengers to her, saying: “I gave you many gifts. But you told me: ‘When I return to Rus', I will send you many gifts: servants, wax, hides, and many troops to help.’” Olga answered the messengers: “If you, I say, wait on me in the Pochaina as long as I waited in the Sud, then I will give them.” And she sent the messengers away with this answer.

Olga lived with her son Sviatoslav, and his mother kept urging him to be baptized. But he paid no attention and would not listen. If anyone wanted to be baptized of his own will, they did not forbid it; they only mocked him. “For to unbelievers the Christian faith is foolishness.” “They did not understand or comprehend, walking in darkness,” and they did not see the glory of the Lord. “Their hearts have grown dull, and with their ears they hear heavily, and with their eyes they see.” Solomon said: “The deeds of the wicked are far from understanding.” “Because I called you and you would not listen, I stretched out my words and you did not understand; you cast aside my counsels and paid no attention to my rebukes.” “They hated wisdom and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would not listen to my counsels, but mocked my rebukes.” Olga often said: “I have come to know God, my son, and I rejoice. If you too come to know God, you too will begin to rejoice.”

He did not listen to her, saying: “How can I accept a different law alone? My retinue will begin to laugh at this.” She said to him: “If you are baptized, all of them will do the same.” He did not obey his mother and kept living in pagan ways. Whoever does not listen to his mother falls into disaster, as it is said: “Whoever does not listen to his father or his mother is to be put to death.” This made him angry with his mother. Solomon said: “By correcting the wicked a man brings trouble on himself; by reproving the ungodly he brings harm on himself. Rebukes are to the wicked like sores. Do not reprove the wicked, or they will hate you.” Still, Olga loved her son Sviatoslav and said: “May God's will be done. If God wishes to have mercy on my family and on the land of Rus', he will put it into their hearts to turn to God, as he granted to me.”

After saying this, she prayed for her son and for her people day and night, and she raised her son to manhood and to full age.

In the year 6464.

In the year 6465.

In the year 6466.

In the year 6467.

In the year 6468.

In the year 6469.

In the year 6470.

In the year 6471.

In the year 6472. When Prince Sviatoslav had grown up and become a man, he began to gather many brave troops. He himself was brave and light on his feet, and he moved like a leopard; he made many wars. He carried no wagon behind him, and he had no kettle and cooked no meat. He cut horsemeat, game, or beef into thin strips, baked them on the coals, and ate. He had no tent; he spread a ground cloth and set his saddle at his head. All his other warriors did the same. He sent word to other lands, saying: “I am coming against you.” He went to the Oka River and the Volga, came upon the Viatichians, and said to them: “To whom do you pay tribute?” They answered: “We pay the Khazars a shcheliag per plow.”

In the year 6473. Sviatoslav went against the Khazars. Hearing of it, the Khazars came out to meet him with their prince, the kagan. The armies met in battle, and when the battle was joined, Sviatoslav defeated the Khazars and took their city of Bela Vezha. He defeated the Yases and the Kasogians as well, and came to Kyiv.

In the year 6474. Sviatoslav defeated the Viatichians and laid tribute on them.

In the year 6475. Sviatoslav went to the Danube against the Bulgars. After they fought, Sviatoslav defeated the Bulgars and took 80 towns along the Danube. He sat ruling there in Pereiaslavets, taking tribute from the Greeks.

In the year 6476. The Pechenegs came against the land of Rus' for the first time, while Sviatoslav was in Pereiaslavets. Olga shut herself in the city of Kyiv with her grandsons Yaropolk, Oleg, and Vladimir. The Pechenegs surrounded the city with great force, an endless host around it. No one could get out of the city or send word, and the people were worn out by hunger and thirst. People from the far side of the Dnieper gathered in boats and stood on the other bank. Not one of them could get into Kyiv, and no one could come out of the city to them. The people in the city were in distress and said: “Is there no one who could get to the other bank and tell them: if you do not come up to the city tomorrow morning, we will surrender to the Pechenegs?” One young man said: “I can get across.” The townspeople were glad and said to him: “If you can, then go—go however you can.” He left the city with a horse's bridle and walked among the Pechenegs, asking: “Has anyone seen a horse?” He knew the Pecheneg language, and they took him for one of their own.

When he came near the river, he threw off his clothes, threw himself into the Dnieper, and waded across. The Pechenegs saw him, rushed at him, and shot arrows at him, but they could do nothing to him. Those on the other bank saw him, rowed out to meet him in boats, took him into a boat, and brought him to their force. He said to them: “If you do not come up to the city early tomorrow, the people will surrender to the Pechenegs.” Their commander, named Pretich, said to them: “Let us come up tomorrow in boats, take the princess and the young princes aboard, and rush them over to this bank. If we do not do this, Sviatoslav will destroy us.” When morning came, they boarded the boats at first light, sounded their trumpets loudly, and the people in the city shouted. The Pechenegs thought the prince himself had come, and they fled from the city in all directions. Olga came out with her grandsons and her people to the boats. The Pecheneg prince, seeing this, turned back alone to commander Pretich and asked: “Who has come here?” He answered: “People from the other bank.”

The Pecheneg prince said: “Are you the prince?” He said: “I am one of his men. I have come as an outrider, and behind me comes a countless host.” He said this to frighten them. The Pecheneg prince said to Pretich: “Be my friend.” He answered: “So be it.” They gave each other their hands, and the Pecheneg prince gave Pretich a horse, a saber, and arrows, and Pretich gave him armor, a shield, and a sword. The Pechenegs drew away from the city. There was no place to water a horse, because the Pechenegs stood on the Lybid. The people of Kyiv sent word to Sviatoslav: “You, prince, seek after and guard a foreign land, while you have been robbed of your own. The Pechenegs nearly took us, and your mother and your children with us. If you do not come and defend us, they will take us yet. Do you not grieve for your fatherland, for your old mother, and for your children?” Hearing this, Sviatoslav quickly mounted with his retinue and came to Kyiv. He kissed his mother and his children and grieved over what had been done by the Pechenegs.

He gathered troops and drove the Pechenegs into the open country, and there was peace.

In the year 6477. Sviatoslav said to his mother and to his boyars: “I do not like to live in Kyiv. I want to live in Pereiaslavets on the Danube. That is the middle of my land, for all good things come together there: silks, gold, wine, and many kinds of fruit from the Greeks; silver and horses from the Czechs and the Magyars; and hides, wax, honey, and servants from Rus'.” His mother said to him: “Do you see me sick—where do you want to go from me?” She was already gravely ill. Then she said: “Bury me, and go wherever you wish.” Three days later Olga died. Her son, her grandsons, and all the people wept for her with great weeping; they carried her and buried her there. Olga had commanded that no funeral feast be held over her, for she had a priest, and he buried the blessed Olga.

She was the forerunner of the Christian land, like the day-star before the sun and like the dawn before the light. She shone like the moon in the night; so she shone among unbelieving people like a pearl in the mud, for they were filthy with sin, not washed by holy baptism. She washed herself in the holy font, stripped off the sinful garment of the old man Adam, and put on the new Adam, who is Christ. We say to her: “Rejoice, the Rus' knowledge of God, for we have the beginning of reconciliation.” She was the first from Rus' to enter the kingdom of heaven. The sons of Rus' praise her as their leader, for after death she prayed to God for Rus'. The souls of the righteous do not die, as Solomon said: “When the righteous is praised, the people rejoice,” for the memory of the righteous is immortality: he is known of God and of men. All people glorify her, seeing her lying in her body through many years. The prophet said: “Those who honor me, I will honor.” David said of such people: “The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance; he will not be afraid of an evil report. His heart is ready to hope in the Lord; his heart is established and will not be moved.” Solomon said: “The righteous live forever; their reward is from the Lord, and their keeping from the Most High. Therefore they will receive a glorious kingdom and a crown of beauty from the Lord's hand, for with his right hand he will shield them, and with his arm he will cover them.” By his power he shielded the blessed Olga from the adversary and enemy, the devil.

In the year 6478. Sviatoslav seated Yaropolk in Kyiv and Oleg in the Derevlianians' land. At that time the people of Novgorod came, asking a prince for themselves: “If you do not come to us, we will find a prince for ourselves.” Sviatoslav said to them: “Would anyone go to you?” Yaropolk and Oleg both refused. Dobrynia said: “Ask for Vladimir.” Vladimir was the son of Malusha, Olga's favorite. Malusha was Dobrynia's sister; their father was Malko of Liubech, and Dobrynia was Vladimir's uncle. The people of Novgorod said to Sviatoslav: “Give us Vladimir.” They took Vladimir for themselves, and Vladimir went with his uncle Dobrynia to Novgorod, while Sviatoslav went to Pereiaslavets.

In the year 6479. Sviatoslav came to Pereiaslavets, and the Bulgars shut themselves in the town. The Bulgars came out to battle against Sviatoslav, and there was a great battle, and the Bulgars were winning. Sviatoslav said to his troops: “Here we must fall. Let us fight like men, brothers and retinue!” By evening Sviatoslav was winning and took the town by the spear, saying: “This town is mine!” He sent word to the Greeks: “I want to march against you and take your city as I took this one.” The Greeks said: “We are too weak to stand against you. Take tribute from us and from your retinue. But tell us how many you are, so we may give it by the number of heads.” The Greeks said this to deceive the Rus', for the Greeks are cunning to this day. Sviatoslav said to them: “There are 20 thousand of us,” and he added 10 thousand, for the Rus' were only 10 thousand.

The Greeks prepared 100 thousand against Sviatoslav and gave no tribute. Sviatoslav marched against the Greeks, and they came out against the Rus'. The Rus' saw the great mass of troops and were very afraid. Sviatoslav said: “Now we have nowhere to go. Willing or unwilling, we must stand against them. Let us not shame the land of Rus'. Let us lay our bones here, for the dead feel no shame. If we run, that is disgrace for us. We cannot run away. Let us stand firm, and I will go ahead of you. If my head falls, then look to yourselves.” The troops said: “Where your head lies, there we will lay our own.” The Rus' and the Greeks drew up their battle lines against each other. The armies clashed, and the Greeks surrounded the Rus'. There was a great battle, and Sviatoslav won, and the Greeks fled.

Sviatoslav marched on toward the city, waging war, and tore down other towns too; they still stand empty to this day.

The emperor called his boyars together in the palace and said to them: “What shall we do? We cannot stand against him.” The boyars said to him: “Send him gifts. Let us test him: does he love gold or silks?” They sent him gold and silks and a wise man, and told him: “Watch his gaze, his face, and his thoughts.” Taking the gifts, he came to Sviatoslav. When the Greeks came in with a bow, Sviatoslav said: “Bring them in here.” They came in, bowed to him, and set the gold and silks before him. Sviatoslav, looking away to the side, said: “Hide them away.” Sviatoslav's attendants took them and hid them. The emperor's messengers went back to the emperor, and the emperor called the boyars together. The messengers said: “We came to him and handed over the gifts, and he did not look at them; he ordered them hidden away.”

One of them said: “Test him once more—send him weapons.” They did as he said and sent him a sword and other weapons. He took them and began to love and praise them and to honor the emperor. They came again to the emperor and reported everything that had happened. The boyars said: “This man wants to be fierce, for he cares nothing for riches but takes up weapons. Agree to pay him tribute.” The emperor sent word to him: “Do not come to the city. Take the tribute and whatever you want,” for he had come within a little of reaching Constantinople. They gave him the tribute. He also took payment for the killed, saying: “His kin will take it.” He took many gifts besides and returned to Pereiaslavets with great glory. Seeing how few his retinue was, he said to himself: “At some point they will trick us and kill my retinue and me,” for many had been killed in battle.

He said: “I will go back to Rus' and bring more troops.”

He sent messengers to the emperor at Dorostolon, for the emperor was there, saying: “I want to have firm peace and friendship with you.” When the emperor heard this, he was glad and sent him gifts greater than the first ones. Sviatoslav accepted the gifts and began to take counsel with his retinue, saying: “If we do not make peace with the emperor, the emperor will learn how few we are. He will come and surround us in the town. The land of Rus' is far away, and the Pechenegs are at war with us. Who would help us? Let us make peace with the emperor: he has already bound himself to pay us tribute, and that will be enough for us. If he stops paying the tribute, then once more from Rus', gathering a greater force, we will come to Constantinople.” This speech pleased the retinue. They sent their best men to the emperor; they came to Dorostolon and told the emperor. The next day the emperor summoned them and said: “Let the envoys of Rus' speak.” They said: “Thus our prince says: ‘I want to have friendship with the Greek emperor, made complete for all the years to come.’” The emperor, glad, ordered a scribe to write all of Sviatoslav's words on parchment. The envoys began to speak all the words, and the scribe began to write. This is what they said:

“Copy of another treaty, made under Sviatoslav, grand prince of Rus', and under Sveneld; written under Theophilos the syncellus and to John, called Tzimiskes, emperor of the Greeks, at Dorostolon, in the month of July, indiction 14, in the year 6479.

“I, Sviatoslav, prince of Rus', as I have sworn, confirm my oath in this treaty. I want to have peace and complete friendship with every great emperor of the Greeks, with Basil and with Constantine, and with the God-inspired emperors, and with all your people, and I with all the Rus' under me, boyars and the rest, until the end of the age. I will never plot against your land, nor gather troops, nor bring another people against your land or any part of it under Greek rule, nor against the Korsun region and however many towns it has, nor against the land of Bulgaria. If anyone else plots against your land, then I will stand against him and fight him. Thus I swore to the Greek emperors, and with me the boyars and all the Rus', and we will keep this treaty as written. If we and those with me and under me do not keep what has been said above, may we receive the oath of the God in whom we believe—in Perun and in Volos, the god of cattle—and may we be yellow like this gold, and be cut down by our own weapons, and die. May you hold this as truth, as I have now done before you, and as I have written on this parchment and sealed with my seals.”

Having made peace with the Greeks, Sviatoslav set off in boats toward the rapids. His father's commander and Sveneld said to him: “Go around, prince, on horseback; the Pechenegs are standing at the rapids.” He did not listen to them and went in his boats. The men of Pereiaslavets sent word to the Pechenegs: “Sviatoslav is coming to Rus', carrying much wealth taken from the Greeks and countless captives, and he has a small retinue with him.” Hearing this, the Pechenegs blocked the rapids. Sviatoslav came to the rapids, and there was no way to pass them. He stopped to spend the winter at Beloberezhie. There was no food, and a great famine set in: a horse's head cost half a grivna. Sviatoslav wintered there. When spring came, Sviatoslav set off toward the rapids.

In the year 6480. Sviatoslav came to the rapids, and Kurya, the Pecheneg prince, fell upon him. They killed Sviatoslav and took his head. They made a cup of his skull, bound it in metal, and drank from it. Sveneld came to Kyiv to Yaropolk. All the years of Sviatoslav's reign came to 28 years.

In the year 6481. Yaropolk began to reign.

In the year 6482.

In the year 6483. Sveneld's son, named Lot, went out from Kyiv and chased game in the forest. Oleg saw him and said: “Who is this?” He was told: “Sveneld's son.” Oleg rode him down and killed him, for Oleg was out hunting too. Because of this there was hatred between the two, Yaropolk against Oleg. Sveneld kept urging Yaropolk: “March against your brother, and you will take his rule for yourself alone,” for he wanted to avenge his son.

In the year 6484.

In the year 6485. Yaropolk marched against his brother Oleg, into the Derevlianians' land. Oleg came out against him, and both sides formed up for battle. When the armies clashed, Yaropolk defeated Oleg. Oleg fled with his troops to a town called Vruchyi. There was a bridge across the dam leading to the town gates. The crowd was pressing hard, one man against another, and they pushed Oleg off the bridge into the ravine. Many people fell from the bridge, and both horses and men were crushed. Yaropolk entered his brother Oleg's town and took his domain. He sent men to look for his brother, but they could not find him. One Derevlianian said: “I saw yesterday how they pushed him off the bridge.” Yaropolk sent men to search, and they dragged bodies out of the dam from morning until midday. They found Oleg at the bottom, under the bodies. They carried him in and laid him on a carpet. Yaropolk came and stood over him and wept, and said to Sveneld: “Look—this is what you wanted.” They buried Oleg on the spot near the town of Vruchyi, and his grave is at Vruchyi to this day. Yaropolk took over his domain. Yaropolk had a Greek wife, a former nun, whom his father Sviatoslav had brought back and given to Yaropolk for the beauty of her face. When Vladimir heard in Novgorod that Yaropolk had killed Oleg, he was afraid and fled across the sea. Yaropolk set his own governor in Novgorod and ruled alone in Rus'.

In the year 6486.

In the year 6487.

In the year 6488. Vladimir came with Varangians to Novgorod and said to Yaropolk's governors: “Go to my brother and tell him: Vladimir is coming against you—get ready to fight him.” And Vladimir took up his seat in Novgorod.

And he sent to Rogvolod in Polotsk, saying: “I want to take your daughter as my wife.” Rogvolod asked his daughter: “Do you want to marry Vladimir?” She answered: “I do not want to pull off Vladimir's boots; I want Yaropolk.” Rogvolod had come from across the sea and held his domain in Polotsk, and Tur held his in Turov, from whom the Turovians took their name. Vladimir's messengers came back and reported to him all of Rogneda's speech—Rogneda, the daughter of Rogvolod, prince of Polotsk. Vladimir gathered many troops—Varangians, and Slovenes, and Chud, and Krivichians—and marched on Rogvolod. At that very time they were going to lead Rogneda to Yaropolk as his bride. Vladimir came to Polotsk, killed Rogvolod and his two sons, and took his daughter Rogneda as his wife.

And he marched on Yaropolk. Vladimir came to Kyiv with many troops. Yaropolk could not stand against Vladimir, and he shut himself up in Kyiv with his men and with Blud. Vladimir stood in siege, having dug in at Dorogozhichi, between Dorogozhichi and Kapich; the ditch is there to this day. Vladimir sent to Blud, Yaropolk's military commander, with deceitful words: “Take my side! If I kill my brother, I will keep you in place of my father, and you will get great honor from me. I did not start the killing among brothers—he did. I feared that, and so I came against him.” Blud said to Vladimir's messengers: “I will be your friend.” O the evil deceit of men! As David says: “The man who ate my bread has raised deceit against me.” This man was plotting deceit against the prince. And again: “They deceived me with their tongues. Judge them, God, that they may fall from their own designs; cast them out for the multitude of their ungodliness, for they have provoked you, Lord.” And again David said the same: “Men of blood and deceit will not live out their days.”

This is evil counsel, when men plot […] for bloodshed; such men are frenzied. Those who take honor and gifts from a prince or from their own lord, and then plot to destroy their prince, are worse than demons. So Blud betrayed his prince, after receiving many honors from him; he was guilty of that blood. Blud, shut up in Kyiv with Yaropolk, kept sending word to Vladimir, ordering him to assault the city, while he himself meant to kill Yaropolk; but because of the townspeople he could not kill him. Blud could not find a way to destroy him, so he planned deceit: he ordered Yaropolk not to go out of the city to battle. And Blud said to Yaropolk: “The people of Kyiv are sending word to Vladimir, saying: ‘Attack the city, for we will hand Yaropolk over to you.’ Flee the city.” Yaropolk obeyed him and fled the city; he came and shut himself in the town of Rodnia at the mouth of the Ros, and Vladimir entered Kyiv, and they besieged Yaropolk in Rodnia. There was a great famine in the town, and there is a saying to this day: “trouble like at Rodnia.” And Blud said to Yaropolk: “Do you see how many troops your brother has? We cannot beat them. Make peace with your brother”—he said this, deceiving him.

Yaropolk said: “So be it.” Blud sent word to Vladimir: “Your plan has come true—I will bring Yaropolk to you; get ready to kill him.” Hearing this, Vladimir went into his father's palace court, of which we spoke before, and sat there with his troops and his retinue. Blud said to Yaropolk: “Go to your brother and tell him: whatever you give me, I will accept.” Yaropolk set out, and Variazhko said to him: “Do not go, prince—they will kill you. Flee to the Pechenegs and bring back troops.” But he did not listen to him. Yaropolk came to Vladimir, and as he passed through the doors, two Varangians lifted him on their swords under his arms. Blud shut the doors and did not let his own men enter after him. And so Yaropolk was killed. Variazhko, seeing that Yaropolk had been killed, fled from the court to the Pechenegs and fought against Vladimir with the Pechenegs for a long time, and Vladimir barely won him back by swearing an oath to him. Vladimir then took his brother's Greek wife, who was already pregnant, and she bore Sviatopolk.

From a sinful root comes an evil fruit: first, his mother was a nun; and second, Vladimir lay with her outside marriage—so Sviatopolk was a child of adultery. That is why his father did not love him: he was from two fathers, from Yaropolk and from Vladimir.

After that the Varangians said to Vladimir: “This city is ours, and we took it, and we want to take a ransom from its people: 2 grivnas from each man.” Vladimir said to them: “Wait until they have gathered the kunas for a month.” They waited a month, and he gave them nothing. The Varangians said: “You have deceived us. Show us the way to the Greeks.” He said: “Go.” He chose from among them men who were good, wise, and brave and gave them towns to hold; the rest went on to Constantinople. Vladimir sent messengers ahead of them with this message for the emperor: “Varangians are coming to you. Do not keep them in the city, or they will do to your city what they did here. Scatter them in different places, and do not let a single one of them come here.”

And Vladimir began to rule alone in Kyiv. He set up idols on the hill outside the palace court: Perun of wood, with a silver head and a golden mustache, and Khors, and Dazhbog, and Stribog, and Simargl, and Mokosh. People sacrificed to them, calling them gods, and brought their sons and sacrificed them to demons, and they defiled the earth with their offerings. The land of Rus' was defiled by the offerings, and that hill too. But the all-good God, who does not want the death of sinners—on that hill there is now the church of St. Basil, as we shall tell later. But let us return to the earlier story.

Vladimir put Dobrynia, his uncle, in charge in Novgorod. Dobrynia came to Novgorod and set up an idol of Perun above the Volkhov River, and the people of Novgorod sacrificed to it as to a god.

Vladimir was overcome by desire for women. His acknowledged wives were these: Rogneda, whom he settled on the Lybid, where the little village of Predslavino stands now; from her he had 4 sons—Iziaslav, Mstislav, Yaroslav, and Vsevolod—and 2 daughters. From the Greek woman—Sviatopolk. From the Czech woman—Vysheslav. From another woman—Sviatoslav. From the Bulgarian woman—Boris and Gleb. He had 300 concubines in Vyshhorod, 300 in Bilhorod, and 200 at Berestovo in the little village that is still called Berestovo. He was insatiable in debauchery: he brought married women to himself and corrupted young girls. He was a lover of women, like Solomon: Solomon, it is said, had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Solomon was wise, yet he perished in the end; Vladimir was unlearned, yet in the end he found salvation. “Great is the Lord, and great is his might, and of his understanding there is no number!” For the lure of women is an evil thing, as Solomon said when he repented, about women: “Give no heed to an evil woman, for honey drips from the lips of an adulterous woman; for a time she delights your throat, but afterward you will find her more bitter than gall. Those who cling to her go down with death into hell. She does not find the path of life, for her ways are wanton and without sense.” This Solomon said about adulteresses.

About good wives he said: “She is more precious than any costly stone. Her husband rejoices in her, for she does her husband good all the days of her life. She finds wool and flax and makes useful things with her own hands. She is like a merchant ship doing trade: from far away she gathers wealth for herself. She rises in the night and gives food to her household and work to her maidservants. When she sees something worth buying, she buys it, and from the work of her own hands she plants what she has gained. She girds her loins with strength and makes her arms strong for work. She finds that working is good, and her lamp does not go out all night. She stretches her hands out to what is useful, and sets her elbows to the spindle. She opens her hands to the poor and stretches out her fruit to the needy. Her husband does not worry about his home, wherever he may be. She makes double garments for her husband, and scarlet and crimson clothing for herself. Her husband is respected in the gates, when he sits in council with the elders and the people of the land. She makes coverlets and sells them. She opens her mouth with wisdom and speaks in order with her tongue. She is clothed in strength and beauty. Her almsgiving lifted up her children, and they grew rich, and her husband praised her. A sensible wife is blessed, and let her praise the fear of the Lord. Give her of the fruit of her lips, and let her husband be praised in the gates.”

In the year 6489. Vladimir went against the Poles and took their towns: Peremyshl, Cherven, and other towns that are under Rus' to this day. In the same year he also defeated the Viatichians and laid tribute on them from each plow, as his father had taken.

In the year 6490. The Viatichians rose in rebellion, and Vladimir marched against them and defeated them a second time.

In the year 6491. Vladimir marched against the Yatvingians and took their land. He came back to Kyiv and offered sacrifices to the idols together with his people. The elders and the boyars said: “Let us cast lots on a boy and a girl; on whichever one the lot falls, we will slaughter that one as a sacrifice to the gods.” Now there was a Varangian whose courtyard stood where the church of the Holy Mother of God built by Vladimir now stands. This Varangian had come from the Greeks and kept the Christian faith in secret. He had a son, beautiful in face and in soul, and the lot fell on him through the devil's envy. The devil, who has power over all, could not endure this—the man was to him like a thorn in his heart—and the accursed one tried to destroy him and to set the people against him. Messengers came to the Varangian and said: “The lot has fallen on your son. The gods have chosen him for themselves, so that we may make a sacrifice to the gods.” The Varangian said: “These are not gods but wood. Today it stands, and tomorrow it is rotten. They do not eat, or drink, or speak; they are made by hands out of wood, with axe and knife. But God is one, whom the Greeks serve and worship, who made heaven and earth, and man, and the stars, and the sun, and the moon, and gave them to live on the earth. And what have these gods made? They themselves are made. I will not give my son to demons.”

They went away and told the people. The people took up weapons, marched on him, and tore down his courtyard around him. He stood on the upper porch with his son. They said to him: “Give us your son, and we will offer him to the gods.” He said: “If they are gods, let them send one of their own gods to take my son. Why do you plead for them?” They shouted and hacked through the porch under them, and so they killed them both. No one knows where they laid them. People were ignorant and pagan in those days, and the devil rejoiced at this, not knowing that his own destruction was near. For before this too he tried to destroy the Christian people, but he was driven away by the honored cross in other lands; here the accursed one thought he had his home, because the apostles had not taught here, and the prophets had not foretold here. He did not know the prophet's word: “I will call those who are not my people my people”; and about the apostles it says: “Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”

Though the apostles were not here in body, their teaching sounds like trumpets through the whole world in the churches. By their teaching we defeat the enemy who stands against us, trampling him under our feet, just as these two men trampled him down and received the heavenly crown together with the holy martyrs and the righteous.

In the year 6492. Vladimir marched against the Radimichians. He had a commander named Wolf Tail, and Vladimir sent Wolf Tail ahead of him. He met the Radimichians on the Pishchana River, and Wolf Tail defeated the Radimichians. That is why the Rus' taunt the Radimichians, saying: “The men of the Pishchana run from the wolf's tail.” The Radimichians were descended from the stock of the Poles; they came and settled here, and they pay tribute to Rus' and haul the cart duty to this day.

In the year 6493. Vladimir marched against the Bulgars with Dobrynia, his uncle, in boats, and he brought the Torks along the shore on horseback. And so he defeated the Bulgars. Dobrynia said to Vladimir: “I have looked over the prisoners, and they are all wearing boots. We will get no tribute from these people; let us go and look for wearers of bast shoes.” Vladimir made peace with the Bulgars, and they swore oaths between themselves, and the Bulgars said: “May there be no peace between us until a stone begins to float and hops begin to sink.” And Vladimir came to Kyiv.

In the year 6494. Bulgars of the faith of Muhammad came and said: “You are a prince wise and intelligent, but you do not know the law. Believe in our law and worship Muhammad.” Vladimir said: “What is your faith?” They said: “We believe in God, and Muhammad teaches us, saying: circumcise the private parts, do not eat pork, do not drink wine, and after death practice lustful debauchery with women. Muhammad will give each man 70 beautiful women, and he will choose the most beautiful and place the beauty of all the others on her, and she will be his wife. Here, he says, one should practice every kind of debauchery. If anyone is poor in this world, he will be poor there too; if he is rich here, he will be rich there.” And many other deceptions, which cannot be written down for shame. Vladimir listened to them, for he himself loved women and much debauchery, and he heard them with pleasure. But two things did not please him: the circumcision of the body and the not eating of pork; and about drinking he said flatly: “Drinking is the joy of the Rus'. We cannot exist without it.” After that Germans came from Rome, saying: “We have come, sent by the pope.”

They said to him: “The pope tells you: ‘Your land is like our land, but your faith is not like our faith. Our faith is light. We worship God, who made heaven and earth, and the stars, and the moon, and every breathing thing; your gods are wood.’” Vladimir said: “What is your commandment?” They said: “Fasting according to one's strength. If anyone drinks or eats, all is to the glory of God, as our teacher Paul says.” Vladimir said to the Germans: “Go back, for our fathers did not accept this.” When the Jews of Khazaria heard this, they came and said: “We heard that Bulgars and Christians came, each of them teaching you his own faith. The Christians believe in the one whom we crucified, but we believe in the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Vladimir said: “What is your law?” They said: “To be circumcised, not to eat pork or hare, and to keep the Sabbath.” He said: “Where is your land, then?” They said: “In Jerusalem.” He said: “Is it really there?” They said: “God was angry with our fathers and scattered us among foreign lands for our sins, and our land was given over to the Christians.”

Vladimir said: “How can you teach others when God himself has rejected you? If God loved you, you would not have been scattered through foreign lands. Or do you mean that we should take the same evil on ourselves?”

After that the Greeks sent a philosopher to Vladimir, and he spoke as follows: “We have heard that Bulgars came and urged you to accept their faith. Their faith defiles heaven and earth. They are cursed more than all people, having made themselves like Sodom and Gomorrah, on which God sent burning stones and drowned them, and they sank down—and the day of their destruction awaits them as well, when God comes to judge the earth and destroy all who work unrighteousness and do abominations. These men wash away their excrement, dousing themselves with water, pour it into their mouths, and smear it on their beards, calling on Muhammad. Their wives do the same foulness, and something worse: they taste what comes from intercourse with a man.” When Vladimir heard this, he spat on the ground and said: “A foul thing.”

The philosopher said: “We have also heard that men have come from Rome to teach you their faith. Their faith differs from ours only a little: they serve with unleavened bread, called oplatki, which God did not hand down. He commanded that the service be with bread, and he handed it to the apostles: he took the bread and said: ‘This is my body, broken for you.’ Taking the cup too, he said: ‘This is my blood of the new covenant.’ These men do not do this, and their faith is not correct.” Vladimir said: “Jews came to me and said that the Germans and the Greeks believe in the one whom we crucified.” The philosopher said: “We truly believe in him. The prophets foretold that God would be born, and others that he would be crucified and rise on the third day and ascend into heaven. The Jews killed some of those prophets and cut others down. When their prophecy came true, he came down to the earth, endured crucifixion, rose, and ascended into heaven. He waited 40 years and 6 more for their repentance, but they did not repent, and he sent the Romans against them. Their cities were destroyed, and they themselves were scattered through the lands, and they serve as laborers in foreign lands.”

Vladimir said: “Why did God come down to the earth and endure such suffering?” The philosopher answered: “Do you wish, prince, to hear from the beginning why God came down to the earth?” Vladimir said: “I will listen, gladly.” And the philosopher began to speak as follows:

In the beginning, at the very first, God made heaven and earth on the 1st day. On the second day he made the firmament, which is in the middle of the waters. On that day the waters divided: half of them went up above the firmament, and half below it. On the 3rd day he made the sea, the rivers, the springs, and the seeds. On the 4th day—the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and God adorned the heaven. Then the first of the angels, the chief of the angelic rank, saw, and thought in himself, and said: “I will come down to the earth and take possession of the earth, and I will set my throne on the clouds of the north, and I will be like God.” God cast him down from heaven at once, and those who were under him fell after him, the tenth rank. The adversary's name was Satanael; in his place God set Michael as chief. Satan, having sinned in his thought and fallen from his first glory, was called the adversary of God. After that, on the 5th day, God made the whales, and the creeping things, and the fish, and the birds, and the beasts, and the cattle, and the creeping things of the earth. On the 6th day God made man. On the 7th day God rested from his works—that is the Sabbath.

God planted Paradise in the east, in Eden, and brought man there, whom he had made. He commanded him to eat of every tree, but of one tree not to eat—the tree that gives knowledge of good and evil. Adam was in Paradise, and he saw God and praised him when the angels praised God, and he praised him with them. God cast sleep on Adam, and Adam slept, and God took one rib from Adam, made a woman from it, and brought her to Adam. Adam said: “This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman.” Adam gave names to all the cattle and the birds and the beasts and the creeping things, and gave names even to the angels. God subjected the beasts and the cattle to Adam, and he ruled over them all, and they obeyed him. The devil saw that God had honored man, envied him, changed himself into a serpent, came to Eve, and said to her: “Why do you not eat from the tree that stands in the middle of Paradise?” The woman said to the serpent: “God said: you two must not eat of it, or you will die the death.” The serpent said to the woman: “You will not die the death. God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The woman saw that the tree was good for food; she took and ate, and gave to her husband, and they ate. Their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together for coverings. God said: “Cursed is the earth because of your deeds; in sorrow you will eat all the days of your life.” And the Lord God said: “If they ever stretch out a hand and take from the tree of life, they will live forever.” The Lord God drove Adam out of Paradise. Adam sat opposite Paradise, weeping and tilling the earth, and Satan rejoiced over the curse of the earth. This was the first fall upon us, the bitter answer of the apostasy from the angelic life. Adam fathered Cain and Abel. Cain was a plowman, and Abel a shepherd. Cain brought the fruits of the earth to God, and God did not accept his offering. Abel brought the firstborn of his lambs, and God accepted Abel's gifts. Satan entered into Cain and spurred him on to kill Abel. Cain said to Abel: “Let us two go out to the field.” When they went out, Cain rose up and wanted to kill him, but he did not know how. Satan said to him: “Take a stone and strike him.” And Cain killed Abel.

God said to Cain: “Where is your brother?” He said: “Am I my brother's keeper?” God said: “The blood of your brother cries out to me. You will groan and tremble all your life.” Adam and Eve wept, and the devil rejoiced and said: “God honored this man; I made him fall away from God, and now I have found a way to make him weep.” They wept over Abel for 30 years, and his body did not decay, and they did not know how to bury him. By God's command two birds flew up; one of them died, and the other dug a pit, put the dead one in it, and buried it. Seeing this, Adam and Eve dug a pit, laid Abel in it, and buried him with weeping. When Adam was 230 years old he fathered Seth and 2 daughters, and Cain took one for his wife, and Seth the other, and from them people spread over the earth. They did not know the one who made them; they filled themselves with debauchery and every impurity and murder and envy, and people lived like beasts. Noah alone was righteous in that generation. He fathered 3 sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. God said: “My spirit will not remain in people,” and he said: “I will destroy the man I made, from man to beast.”

God said to Noah: “Make an ark 300 cubits long, 80 wide, and 30 cubits high”—for in Egypt a sazhen is called a cubit. The ark was built for 100 years, and Noah kept telling people that a flood was coming; they laughed at him. When the ark was finished, the Lord God said to Noah: “Go in, you and your wife and your sons and your daughters-in-law, and bring in with you two of every creeping thing, of the cattle and of the birds.” Noah brought them in as God commanded him. God brought the flood on the earth, and every living thing drowned, and the ark floated on the water. When the water went down, Noah came out, and his sons, and his wife. From these the earth was peopled again. People became many and all spoke one language, and they said to one another: “Let us build a tower up to heaven.” They began to build, and Nimrod was their leader. God said: “People have multiplied, and their thoughts are vain.” God came down and mixed their tongues into 70 and two languages. Adam's language was not taken from Eber, for he alone did not join their madness, saying: “If God had told people to build a tower to heaven, then God himself would have commanded it with his word, as he made the heavens and the earth and the seas and everything visible and invisible.”

That is why this language did not change; from it come the Hebrews. The rest were divided into 70 and one languages and scattered among the lands, each taking its own way of life. By the devil's teaching some of them offered sacrifices to groves and wells and rivers, and they did not know God. From Adam to the flood there were 2242 years, and from the flood to the division of the languages, 529 years.

After that the devil threw people into even greater deceptions, and they began to make idols: some of wood and copper, others of marble, gold, and silver. They bowed down to them and brought their sons and daughters and slaughtered them before the idols, and the whole earth was defiled. The leader in making idols was Serug: he made idols in the names of dead people—some of whom had been emperors, others brave men, others sorcerers, and others adulterous women. This Serug fathered Terah, and Terah fathered 3 sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah also made idols, having learned it from his father. Abram came to his senses, looked up at the sky, and said: “Truly this is God, who made heaven and earth, and my father is deceiving people.” Abram said: “I will test the gods of my father,” and he said: “Father! You deceive people, making idols of wood. That is God, who made heaven and earth.” Abram took fire and set the idols in the house ablaze.

Seeing this, Abram's brother Haran, who was zealous for the idols, wanted to snatch the idol out, and Haran himself burned there and died before his father. Before this a son had never died before his father—the father died before the son—and from this time sons began to die before their fathers. God loved Abram and said to him: “Go out of your father's house and go to the land I will show you, and I will make you into a great nation, and the tribes of the earth will bless you.” Abram did as God commanded him. Abram took Lot, his nephew; Lot was both his wife's brother and his nephew, for Abram had married Sarah, his brother Haran's daughter. He came to the land of the Canaanites, to the tall oak, and God said to Abram: “I will give this land to your seed.” And Abram bowed down to God. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Sarah was barren and suffered from her childlessness. Sarah said to Abram: “Go in to my slave girl.” Sarah took Hagar and gave her to her husband, and Abram went in to Hagar.

Hagar conceived and bore a son, and Abram named him Ishmael; Abram was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. After that Sarah conceived and bore a son and named him Isaac. God commanded Abram to circumcise the child, and Abram circumcised him on the 8th day. God loved Abram and his offspring, called them a people for himself, and set them apart from the other nations, naming them his own people. When Isaac had grown up, Abram died, having lived 175 years, and he was buried. When Isaac was 60 years old, he had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau became wicked, and Jacob righteous. Jacob served his uncle for his daughter, the younger one, for 7 years, but Laban, his uncle, did not give her to him, saying: “Take the older one.” He gave him Leah, the older one, and about the other he said to him: “Work 7 years for the other.” So Jacob worked another 7 years for Rachel. He took 2 sisters as his wives, and from them he fathered 8 sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin; and by two slave women: Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. From these the Jews spread over the earth.

Jacob went down into Egypt at 130 years of age, with his family, 65 souls in number. He lived in Egypt 17 years, and he died, and his people were enslaved for 400 years.

After these years the Jewish people grew strong and multiplied, and the Egyptians oppressed them with labor. At that time Moses was born among the Jews, and the Egyptian sorcerers said to the emperor: “A child has been born among the Jews who wants to destroy Egypt.” The emperor at once ordered that Jewish newborn children be thrown into the river. Moses' mother, fearing this destruction, took the infant, put him in a little basket, carried him, and set him down among the reeds. At that same time Pharaoh's daughter Thermuthis came down to bathe and saw the child crying; she took him and had pity on him, and named him Moses, and brought him up. The child was beautiful, and when he was 4 years old Pharaoh's daughter brought him to her father Pharaoh. When Pharaoh saw Moses, he began to love the child. Moses, reaching up and taking the emperor around the neck, knocked the crown from the emperor's head and trampled it. When the sorcerer saw this, he said to the emperor: “O emperor! Destroy this child: if you do not destroy him, he will destroy all Egypt.”

The emperor did not listen to him; instead he ordered that the Jewish children not be killed. When Moses grew up, he became great in Pharaoh's house. Then another emperor arose, and the boyars envied Moses. Moses killed an Egyptian and fled from Egypt, and came to the land of Midian; walking through the desert, he learned from the angel Gabriel about the creation of the whole world, about the first man, about what was after him and after the flood, about the mixing of tongues, about how many years each man lived, about the course and number of the stars, the measure of the earth, and every kind of wisdom. After this God appeared to him in a bush in fire and said to him: “I have seen the distress of my people in Egypt, and I have come down to take them from the hand of the Egyptians, to lead them out of that land. Go to Pharaoh, the emperor of Egypt, and say to him: ‘Let Israel go, to hold a sacrifice to the Lord God for three days.’ If the emperor of Egypt does not listen to you, I will strike him with all my wonders.”

Moses came, and Pharaoh did not listen to him, and God sent 10 plagues on Pharaoh: 1—the rivers into blood, 2—frogs, 3—gnats, 4—dog flies, 5—death on the cattle, 6—burning boils, 7—hail, 8—locusts, 9—darkness for three days, 10—death among men. For this reason there were 10 plagues on them, because for 10 months they drowned the Jewish children. When the plague was in Egypt, Pharaoh said to Moses and his brother Aaron: “Leave quickly.” Moses gathered the Jewish people and set out from the land of Egypt. The Lord led them by a way through the desert to the Red Sea, and a pillar of fire went before them by night, and a cloud by day. Hearing that the people were fleeing, Pharaoh pursued them and pressed them against the sea. Seeing this, the Jewish people cried out against Moses, saying: “Why have you brought us out to die?” Moses cried to God, and the Lord said: “Why do you cry to me? Strike the sea with the staff.” Moses did so, the water parted in two, and the sons of Israel went into the sea.

Pharaoh saw this and pursued them, but the sons of Israel passed through on dry ground. When they came out on the shore, the sea closed in on Pharaoh and his troops. And God loved Israel, and they went from the sea three days through the desert and came to Marah. The water there was bitter, and the people murmured against God; he showed them a tree, and Moses put it into the water, and the waters became sweet. After this the people again murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: “It was better for us in Egypt, where we ate meat and fat and bread to fullness.” The Lord God said to Moses: “I have heard the reviling of the sons of Israel.” And he gave them manna to eat. After this he gave them the law on Mount Sinai. When Moses went up the mountain to God, they molded a calf's head and bowed down to it as God. Moses cut down 3000 of them. After this they again murmured against Moses and Aaron because there was no water.

The Lord said to Moses: “Strike the staff on the rock,” saying: “Will you not bring water out of this rock?” The Lord was angry with Moses because he did not magnify the Lord, and for that reason, because of the murmuring of those people, he did not enter the promised land; but he led him up Mount Abarim and showed him the promised land. Moses died there on the mountain. And Joshua son of Nun received authority. He came to the promised land, struck down the Canaanite people, and settled the sons of Israel in their place. When Joshua died, Judah became judge in his place, and there were 14 other judges. In their time, forgetting God, who had led them out of Egypt, they began to serve demons. God was angry and gave them over to foreigners to be plundered. And when they began to repent, he had mercy on them, and again they turned to the worship of demons. After this Eli the priest served, and after him the prophet Samuel. The people said to Samuel: “Set a king over us.” God was angry with Israel and set over them King Saul.

But Saul did not choose to walk in the covenant of the Lord; the Lord chose David, made him king over Israel, and David pleased God. To this David God swore that from his line God would be born. And they began first to prophesy about the incarnation of God, he saying: “From the womb, before the morning star, I begot you.” He prophesied this for 40 years and died. After him his son Solomon reigned and prophesied; he built a church to God and named it the Holy of Holies. He was wise, but in the end he stumbled; he reigned 40 years and died. After Solomon his son Rehoboam reigned. In his time the Jewish kingdom split in two: one in Jerusalem, and the other in Samaria. In Samaria Jeroboam reigned, Solomon's slave; he made two golden calves, set one in Bethel on a hill and the other in Dan, and said: “Here is your God, O Israel.” And the people worshiped them and forgot God.

Then in Jerusalem too they began to forget God and to worship Baal, the god of war, that is, Ares, and they forgot the God of their fathers. God began to send prophets to them. The prophets began to denounce their lawlessness and their worship of idols. And they, while being denounced by them, began to kill the prophets. God was very angry with Israel and said: “I reject them and will call other people, who will listen to me. And if they sin, I will not remember their sin.” And he began to send prophets, saying: “Prophesy about the rejection of the Jews and about the calling of other nations.”

First Hosea began to prophesy, saying: “I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel and break Israel's bow, and I will not again have pity on the house of Israel; but casting them off, I will reject them, says the Lord, and they will wander among the nations.” Jeremiah said: “Even if Samuel and Moses stood before me, I would not have pity on them.” And the same Jeremiah said again: “Thus says the Lord: I have sworn by my great name that from now on there will be no place where my name is named in the mouths of the Jews.” Ezekiel said: “Thus says the Lord Adonai: I will scatter you all, your remnant to all the winds, for you have defiled my holy things with all your abominations. And I will reject you and will not have pity on you again.” Malachi said: “Thus says the Lord: I no longer take pleasure in you, for from east to west my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure sacrifice, for my name is great among the nations. Therefore I will give you over to contempt and to exile among all nations.” Isaiah the great said: “Thus says the Lord: I will stretch out my hand on you, destroy you and scatter you, and I will not bring you back.” And the same one said again: “I have hated your feasts and I do not accept your new moons.” The prophet Amos said: “Hear the word of the Lord: I take up a lament over you. The house of Israel has fallen and will rise no more.” Malachi said: “Thus says the Lord: I will send a curse on you and curse your blessing, and destroy it, and it will not be with you.”

He prophesied much about their rejection. To these prophets God commanded to prophesy about the calling of other countries in their place. Isaiah began to call them, saying: “A law will go out from me, and my judgment will be a light to the nations. My righteousness is drawing near; it comes out, and the nations will hope in my arm.” Jeremiah said: “Thus says the Lord: I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah, giving laws into their understanding, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be a God to them, and they will be a people to me.” Isaiah said: “The old things have passed away, and I proclaim new ones. And before the proclaiming it was made known to you: sing to the Lord a new song. Those who serve me will be called by a new name, and by that new name the name of the whole earth will be blessed. My house will be called a house of prayer among all nations.” The same Isaiah says: “The Lord will reveal his holy arm before all nations. All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” And David: “Praise the Lord, all nations; praise him, all peoples.”

So, God having loved the new people, he said that he would come down to them himself and appear to men in the flesh and suffer for Adam's transgression. And they began to prophesy about the incarnation of God. First David, saying: “The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.” And again: “The Lord said to me: you are my son; today I have begotten you.” Isaiah said: “Not one sent, no messenger, but the Lord himself, coming, will save us.” And again: “A child is born to us, and his authority is on his shoulder. And his name will be called ‘angel of great counsel,’ and great is his power, and of his peace there is no end.” And again: “See, a maiden will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will name him Emmanuel.” Micah said: “And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are you not small among the thousands of Judah? From you will come forth for me one to be a ruler among the princes of Israel; his goings forth are from the days of eternity. Therefore he will give them up until the time the woman in labor bears, and the rest of his brothers will return to the sons of Israel.” Jeremiah said: “This is our God, and no other will be compared to him. He found every way of skill and gave it to Jacob his servant. After this he appeared on earth and lived among men.” And again: “He is a man, and who will know that he is God, when a man dies?” Zechariah said: “They did not listen to my son, and I will not listen to them, says the Lord.” Hosea said: “Thus says the Lord: My flesh is from them.”

They also prophesied about his passion, saying, as Isaiah said: “O the evil of their souls, for they took wicked counsel, saying: Let us bind the righteous one.” And the same one said again: “Thus says the Lord: I do not resist […] nor speak against. I gave my shoulders to blows and my cheeks to smiting, and I did not turn my face from the shame of spitting.” Jeremiah said: “Come, let us put wood into his bread, and destroy from the earth his life.” Moses said about his crucifixion: “You will see your life hanging before your eyes.” And David said: “Why have the nations raged?” Isaiah said: “Like a sheep he was led to slaughter.” Ezra said: “Blessed is God, who stretched out his hands and saved Jerusalem.”

They also spoke about his resurrection. David: “Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for you will inherit in all the lands.” And again: “Let God arise, and his enemies be scattered.” And again: “Awake, O Lord my God, that your hand be lifted up.” Isaiah said: “To those descending into the land and the shadow of death, light will shine.” Zechariah said: “By the blood of your covenant you have released your prisoners from the pit that had no water.” And he prophesied much else about him, and it all came true.

Vladimir said: “Then at what time did this happen? Has it already been, or is it only now going to be?” The philosopher answered and said to him: “It all happened before, when God became flesh. As I said before, when the Jews killed the prophets and their emperors transgressed the laws, he gave them over to plunder and captivity, and because of their sins they were led away to Assyria and served there 70 years. And after that they returned to their own land, and they had no emperor, but the high priests ruled them […] until Herod the foreigner, who ruled them.

In his reign, in the year 5500, Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to the maiden Mary, of the line of David, to say to her: “Rejoice, favored one, the Lord is with you!” From this word the Word of God was conceived in her womb, and she bore a son and named him Jesus. And magi came from the east, saying: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Hearing this, Emperor Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and he summoned the scribes and the elders of the people and asked: “Where is the Christ born?” They said to him: “In Bethlehem of Judea.” Hearing this, Herod sent men, saying: “Kill the infants up to two years old.” They went and killed 14,000 infants. Mary, fearing, hid the child. Joseph with Mary, taking the child, fled to Egypt and stayed there until Herod was dead. In Egypt an angel appeared to Joseph, saying: “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel.” When he came, he settled in Nazareth.

When he had grown up and was 30 years old, he began to work miracles and to preach the kingdom of heaven. He chose 12 and called them his disciples, and began to do great miracles: raising the dead, cleansing lepers, making the lame walk, giving sight to the blind, and many other great miracles, just as the prophets had foretold of him, saying: “He healed our sicknesses and took our diseases.” He was baptized in the Jordan by John, showing renewal to the new people. When he was baptized, the heavens opened and the Spirit came down on him in the form of a dove, and a voice said: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” And he sent his disciples to preach the kingdom of heaven and repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And wanting to fulfill the prophecy, he began to preach that the Son of Man must suffer and be crucified and rise on the 3rd day. While he was teaching in the temple, the high priests were filled with envy and the scribes sought to kill him; and seizing him, they led him to the governor Pilate. Pilate, having examined the case and found that they had handed him over without guilt, wanted to release him.

They said to him: “If you release him, you are not Caesar's friend.” Pilate ordered him crucified. They took Jesus and led him to the place of the skull and crucified him there. There was darkness over the whole earth from the 6th hour to the 9th, and at the 9th hour Jesus gave up his spirit. The curtain of the temple tore in two, and many dead rose, to whom he commanded to be in paradise. They took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb; the Jewish people sealed the tomb with seals and set guards over it, saying: “Perhaps his disciples will steal him by night.” He rose on the 3rd day. Risen from the dead, he appeared to the disciples and said to them: “Go into all nations and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He stayed with them 40 days, appearing to them after the resurrection. When the 40 days were fulfilled, he commanded them to go to the Mount of Olives. There he appeared to them and, blessing them, said: “Sit in the city of Jerusalem until I send my Father's promise.” And when he was being raised to heaven, the disciples bowed down before him. They returned to Jerusalem and were always in the temple.

And when the 50 days were completed, the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit, they spread through the whole world, teaching and baptizing with water.”

Vladimir said to the philosopher: “Why was he born of a woman, and crucified on a tree, and baptized with water?” The philosopher said to him: “It is because the human race first sinned through a woman: the devil deceived Adam through Eve, and he fell from paradise. So God took recompense on the devil: by a woman the devil was first defeated, for by a woman came Adam's first fall from paradise; and through a woman God became incarnate and commanded the faithful to go into paradise. And being crucified on a tree is because by tasting of a tree man fell from paradise; God accepted suffering on a tree so that by a tree the devil would be defeated, and from the tree of righteousness the righteous will receive. And renewal by water is because in Noah's time, when sin had multiplied among men, God brought the flood on the earth and drowned men in water. Therefore God said: ‘Since I destroyed men with water for their sins, now again with water I will cleanse the sins of men, by renewal with water,’ for the Jewish race was cleansed in the sea from the evil Egyptian way of life, because water was first from the beginning; for it says the Spirit of God was borne over the water, which is why they are baptized with water and the Spirit even now. The first prefiguring was by water, as Gideon prefigured. When the angel came to him and commanded him to go against Midian, he, testing, said to God, having laid the fleece on the threshing floor: ‘If there is dew on all the earth, and dryness on the fleece…’ And it was so. This prefigured this: the foreign nations were formerly the dry ground, and the Jews the fleece; afterwards there would be dew on the nations, which is holy baptism, and dryness on the Jews. And the prophets preached that renewal would come by water.

The apostles taught through the whole world to believe in God; we Greeks received their teaching, and the whole world believes their teaching. God has appointed one day on which he wants to come and judge the living and the dead, and to give to each according to their deeds: to the righteous, the kingdom of heaven, and beauty beyond words, joy without end, and no dying forever; and to sinners, fiery torment and the undying worm, and their torment will have no end. Such will be the torments of those who do not believe in our Lord Jesus Christ: those who are not baptized will be tormented in fire.” Having said this, he showed him a curtain on which the Lord's judgment was painted: he showed him on the right the righteous going ahead into paradise in joy, and on the left the sinners going into torment. Vladimir sighed and said: “Good for those on the right, and woe to those on the left.” He said: “If you wish to stand at the right, then be baptized.” Vladimir took it to heart and said: “I will wait yet a little,” wanting to test all the faiths. And Vladimir, having given him many gifts, sent him away with great honor.

In the year 6495. Vladimir summoned his boyars and the city elders and said to them: “See, the Bulgars came to me, saying: ‘Accept our law.’ After that came the Germans, and they too praised their law. After them came the Jews. And after these came the Greeks, reviling all the other laws and praising their own, and they said much, telling from the beginning of the world. They tell it skillfully, saying that there is another world: if anyone, they say, enters our faith, then after dying he will rise again and will never die; but if he enters another law, then in that other world he will burn in fire. So what do you advise? What do you answer?” And the boyars and elders said: “You know, prince, that no one reviles his own, but praises it. If you want to examine it thoroughly, you have men at hand: send them to find out about each one's service, and how each serves God.” And the speech pleased the prince and all the people. They chose good and wise men, 10 in number, and said to them: “Go first to the Bulgars and test their faith and their worship.” They went and, having come there, saw their filthy deeds and their worship in a mosque, and came back to their own land.

Vladimir said to them: “Go again to the Germans and examine them likewise, and from there go to the Greeks.” They came to the Germans and examined their church and worship, and came to Constantinople and went in to the emperor. The emperor asked for what reason they had come. They told him everything that had happened. Hearing this, the emperor rejoiced and showed them great honor that day. The next day he sent to the patriarch, saying this: “Rus' has come to inquire about our faith; prepare the church and the clergy, and put on the hierarchal vestments yourself, so that they may see the glory of our God.” Hearing this, the patriarch ordered all the clergy assembled and held a feast according to custom; they lit the censers and set the choirs in singing. And the emperor went with them into the church, and they placed them in a spacious place, showing them the beauty of the church, the singing, the hierarchal service, and the deacons standing in attendance, explaining to them the worship of their God. They were astonished and marveled, and praised their service. Emperors Basil and Constantine called them and said: “Go back to your land.” And they sent them away with great gifts and with honor. They came back to their own land.

The prince summoned his boyars and elders, and Vladimir said: “See, the men we sent have come; let us hear from them what happened,” and said to them: “Speak before the retinue.” They said: “We went first to the Bulgars and saw how they worship in a building, that is, in a mosque, standing without belts: when one has bowed, he sits and looks this way and that, like a madman, and there is no joy among them, only sorrow and a great stench. Their law is not good. And we came to the Germans and saw them performing worship, but we saw no beauty at all. And we came to the Greeks, and they led us to the place where they worship their God, and we do not know whether we were in heaven or on earth: for there is no such sight or such beauty on earth, and we cannot describe it. We only know that God dwells there among men, and their worship is better than in all other countries. We cannot forget that beauty — for every man, if he has first tasted the sweet, afterwards […] cannot accept the bitter — so we do not want to live here any longer.” The boyars answered and said: “If the Greek law were bad, your grandmother Olga would not have accepted baptism; she was wiser than all men.”

Vladimir answered and said: “Where, then, shall we receive baptism?” They said: “Wherever you please.”

When a year had passed, in the year 6496, Vladimir marched with his troops against Korsun, a Greek city, and the people of Korsun shut themselves up inside the city. Vladimir took up his position on the far side of the town, at the harbor, an arrow's flight from the walls. The townspeople fought them hard. Vladimir pressed the siege. The people inside grew weak, and Vladimir said to the townspeople: “If you do not give yourselves up, I will stand here for three years.” They would not listen. Vladimir sent his troops out and ordered them to heap earth up against the city. While they did this, the Korsunians dug under the city wall, stole the earth that was being heaped up, and carried it into their own city, piling it up in the middle of the town. The troops heaped up still more, and Vladimir kept up the siege. Then a man named Anastas, a Korsunian, shot an arrow, with writing on the arrow: “There are wells behind you, to the east. The water flows from them through a pipe. Dig across it, and you will cut off the water.” When Vladimir heard this, he looked up to heaven and said: “If this comes true, then I will be baptized.” At once he ordered men to dig across the pipe, and they cut off the water. The people were overcome by thirst for water and gave themselves up.

Vladimir entered the city with his retinue, and he sent to the emperors Basil and Constantine, saying: “I have taken your glorious city. I also hear that you have a sister who is a maiden. If you do not give her to me in marriage, I will do to your city what I did to this one.” When the emperors heard this, they were distressed, and they sent back this message: “It is not right for Christians to be given in marriage to pagans. If you are baptized, then you will have her and receive the kingdom of heaven, and you will be of one faith with us. If you do not wish to do this, we cannot give our sister to you.” When Vladimir heard this, he said to the emperors' messengers: “Tell the emperors this: I will be baptized, for I tested your law before these days, and I love it, and your faith and your worship, which the men I sent explained to me.” When the emperors heard this, they rejoiced and pressed their sister, named Anna, and they sent to Vladimir, saying: “Be baptized, and then we will send our sister to you.” And Vladimir said: “Let those who come with your sister baptize me.” The emperors consented, and sent their sister and certain officials and priests. But she did not want to go among the pagans, and said to them: “It would be better for me to die here.”

Her brothers said to her: “Perhaps God will turn the Rus' land to repentance through you, and you will save the Greek land from a cruel war. Do you see how much evil the Rus' have done to the Greeks? Now, if you do not go, they will do the same to us.” They could barely force her. She boarded a ship, kissed her kinsmen with weeping, and set out across the sea. When she came to Korsun, the Korsunians came out to meet her with reverence, led her into the city, and seated her in the palace hall. By God's design, at that time Vladimir fell ill with his eyes and could see nothing at all. He grieved deeply and could not think what to do. The empress sent word to him: “If you want to be rid of this sickness, be baptized quickly. If not, you will not get rid of it.” When Vladimir heard this, he said: “If this proves true, then truly the Christian God is great.” And he ordered that he be baptized. The bishop of Korsun, with the empress's priests, instructed him and baptized Vladimir. When the bishop laid his hand on him, Vladimir could see at once. Vladimir, seeing this sudden healing, glorified God and said: “Now for the first time I have seen the true God.” When his retinue saw this, many of them were baptized.

He was baptized in the church of Holy Sophia, and that church stands in the city of Korsun, in the middle of the town, where the Korsunians hold their market. Vladimir's palace hall stands beside that church to this day, and the empress's hall is behind the altar. After the baptism he brought the empress to the betrothal.

Some who do not know the truth say that he was baptized in Kyiv. Others say in Vasyliv, and others tell it in yet another way.

When Vladimir was baptized in Korsun, they handed on to him the Christian faith, saying: “Let no one of the heretics deceive you, but believe, saying this: ‘I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth,’ and so on to the end of this faith. And again: ‘I believe in one God the Father, unbegotten, and in the one Son, begotten, and in the one Holy Spirit, proceeding: three persons complete, grasped by thought, divided by number and person but not by divinity, for it divides without dividing and unites without mixing. The Father, God the Father, ever being, abides in fatherhood — unbegotten, without beginning, the beginning and cause of all things, older than the Son and the Spirit by his one unbegottenness. From him the Son is born before all ages, and the Holy Spirit proceeds, outside time and without body. At once there is the Father, at once the Son, at once the Holy Spirit. The Son is of one essence and without beginning […], differing from the Father and the Spirit only by his birth. The Spirit is all-holy, of one essence with the Father and the Son and co-eternal with them. To the Father belongs fatherhood, to the Son sonship, to the Holy Spirit procession. The Father does not pass over into the Son or the Spirit, nor the Son into the Father and the Spirit, nor the Spirit into the Son or the Father, for their properties cannot be moved. Not three gods — one God, for there is one divinity in three persons.’ By the will of the Father and the Spirit, to save his creation, without leaving the Father's bosom, he came down into the most pure virginal womb, entering it like divine seed and taking flesh with a soul, and reason, and mind, which did not exist before; God came forth incarnate, born beyond telling, and kept his mother's maidenhood unbroken, suffering no confusion, no mixing, no change, but remaining what he was, taking the form of a slave in truth and not in show, made like us in every way except sin. By his will he was born; by his will he hungered, by his will he thirsted, by his will he labored, by his will he was afraid, by his will he died — in truth and not in show, everything made real, not making his human sufferings a pretense. Crucified, he who was without sin tasted death and rose again in his own flesh, and, knowing no decay, went up into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. As he went up with his own flesh, so he will come down.

To this I confess one baptism in water and the Spirit. I approach the most pure mysteries. I believe in the true body and blood. I accept the church's traditions. I bow before the honored icons. I bow to the honored tree of the cross, and to every cross, and to the holy relics and the holy vessels. Believe in the seven councils of the holy fathers: the first council, in Nicaea, of 318 fathers, who condemned Arius and proclaimed the faith pure and right. The second council, in Constantinople, of 150 holy fathers, who condemned Macedonius, the fighter against the Spirit, and proclaimed the Trinity of one essence. The third council, in Ephesus, of 200 holy fathers, against Nestorius: having condemned him, they proclaimed the holy Mother of God. The fourth council, in Chalcedon, of 630 holy fathers, against Eutyches and Dioscorus: the holy fathers condemned them and declared our Lord Jesus Christ perfect God and perfect man. The fifth council, in Constantinople, of 165 holy fathers, against the teachings of Origen and of Evagrius, whom the holy fathers condemned. The sixth council, in Constantinople, of 170 holy fathers, against Sergius and Cyrus, whom the holy fathers condemned. The seventh council, in Nicaea, of 350 fathers, who condemned those who do not bow to icons.

Do not accept teaching from the Latins, for their teaching is corrupt. When they enter a church, they do not bow to the icons; they bow only as they stand […], and having bowed, they draw a cross on the ground and kiss it, and then stand with their feet spread over it, so that they kiss it lying down and trample it standing up. This the apostles did not hand down. The apostles handed down the standing cross to be kissed, and they handed down the icons. Luke the evangelist painted the first icon and sent it to Rome. As Basil says: ‘The icon comes to the first image.’ Again, they call the earth mother. But if the earth is their mother, then heaven is their father, for God made heaven from the beginning, and the earth likewise. They themselves pray: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven.’ If, by this reasoning, the earth is a mother, why do they spit on their own mother? Here they kiss it, and there they foul it? The Romans did not do this, but set the faith right at every council, coming together from Rome and from all the thrones. At the first council, the one against Arius, in Nicaea, Rome first of all sent bishops and priests under Sylvester, and from Alexandria came Athanasius, and Metrophanes of Constantinople sent bishops from his see; and so they set the faith right.

At the second council: from Rome Damasus, from Alexandria Timothy, from Antioch Meletius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gregory the Theologian. At the third council: Celestine of Rome and Cyril of Alexandria. At the fourth council: Leo of Rome, Anatolius of Constantinople, and Juvenal of Jerusalem. At the fifth council: Vigilius of Rome, Eutychius of Constantinople, Apollinarius of Alexandria, and Domnus of Antioch. At the sixth council: Agatho from Rome, George of Constantinople, Theophanes of Antioch, and Peter the monk from Alexandria. At the seventh council: Hadrian from Rome, Tarasius of Constantinople, Politian of Alexandria, Theodore of Antioch, and Elias of Jerusalem. All these, with their bishops, came together and set the faith right. After that council, Peter the Stammerer went to Rome with others and seized the throne; he corrupted the faith and rejected the thrones of Jerusalem, and of Alexandria, and of Constantinople and of Antioch. They stirred up all of Italy, sowing their teaching in different forms, and so they do not hold the faith in one agreement but in different ones: some priests, having married one wife, serve; others, taking as many as seven wives, serve; and they hold many other differences. Beware of their teaching.

They forgive sins in return for gifts, and that is the worst thing of all. God keep you, prince, from this.“

Vladimir took the empress, and Anastas, and the priests of Korsun, and the relics of St. Clement and of Phoebus his disciple, and he took church vessels and icons for a blessing for himself. He built the church of St. John the Forerunner in Korsun, on the hill that they had raised in the middle of the city with the siege earth they had stolen, and that church stands to this day. On the way they took two bronze images and four bronze horses, which stand now behind the holy Mother of God; those who do not know take them for marble. He gave Korsun to the Greeks as bride-price for the empress, and he himself came to Kyiv. When he came, he ordered the idols overthrown: some cut to pieces, and others thrown into the fire. He ordered Perun tied to a horse's tail and dragged down from the hill along the Borichev way to the Stream, and he set twelve men to beat the idol with sticks. This was not because the wood could feel it, but to mock the demon, who had deceived men in this shape, so that he would take his repayment from men. “Great are you, Lord, and wonderful are your works!” Yesterday he was honored by men, and today he is mocked. As he was dragged along the Stream to the Dnieper, the unbelieving people wept for him, for they had not yet received baptism. And when they had dragged him out, they threw him into the Dnieper.

Vladimir gave orders, saying: “If it washes up anywhere, push it off the bank again until it has passed the rapids; only then let it go.” They did what they were commanded. When they let it go, it passed through the rapids, and the wind threw it onto a sandbank, which has been called Perun's Sandbank from that day on. After this Vladimir sent criers through the whole city, saying: “If anyone is not found at the river tomorrow — rich or poor, beggar or slave — he will stand against me as an enemy.” When the people heard this, they went gladly, rejoicing and saying: “If this were not good, the prince and the boyars would not have accepted it.” The next morning Vladimir went out to the Dnieper with the empress's priests and the priests of Korsun, and a countless number of people came together. They went into the water and stood — some up to the neck, others up to the chest, the young close in to the bank up to the chest, some holding babies in their arms, while the grown men waded further out — and the priests stood and said the prayers. It was a sight of great joy in heaven and on earth, so many souls being saved, and the devil groaned: “Woe to me! I am driven out of here! Here I meant to have my dwelling, for there is no apostolic teaching here, and they did not know God; they rejoiced in the service they served me. But now I am beaten by this ignorant man, not by apostles and martyrs, and I can no longer rule in these lands.”

When the people were baptized, each went to his own home. Vladimir was glad, because he himself and his people had come to know God. He looked up to heaven and said: “Great God, maker of heaven and earth! Look down on your new people. Grant them, Lord, to come to know you, the true God, as the Christian lands have known you. Confirm in them a right and unswerving faith. Help me, Lord, against my adversary, the enemy, so that, hoping in you and in your power, I may overcome his snares.” When he had said this, he ordered churches cut of timber and set up in the places where the idols had stood. He built the church of St. Basil on the hill where the idols had stood — Perun and the rest — and where the prince and the people used to make their sacrifices. He began to build churches and appoint priests through the towns, and to bring people to baptism in all the towns and villages. He sent out to take children from the leading families and set them to book-learning. The mothers wept over their children, for they were not yet firm in the faith, and mourned for them as for the dead.

When the children had been handed over to book-learning, the prophecy was fulfilled in the Rus' land: “In those days the deaf will hear the words of a book, and the speech of the stammerers will be made clear.” For they had not heard the words of books before, but by God's design and by his mercy God had pity on them, as the prophet said: “I will have mercy on whom I will.” He had mercy on us with “the washing of rebirth and the renewing of the Spirit,” by God's will and not by our works. Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved the new people, the Rus' land, and gave it light with holy baptism. So we fall down before him, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ! What can we give you in return for all you have given us, who are sinners? We cannot match your gifts.” “For great are you, and wonderful are your works, and there is no end to your greatness. Age after age we will praise your works,” saying with David: “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord and shout aloud to God our Savior. Let us meet his face with thanksgiving”; “giving thanks to him, for he is good, for his mercy lasts forever,” for “he has delivered us from our enemies,” that is, from the idol-worshipers.

And again we say with David: “Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name. Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all peoples, for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised,” and “there is no end to his greatness.” What joy is this: not one, and not two, are being saved! For the Lord said: “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.” Here not one and not two, but a countless multitude came to God, made bright by holy baptism. As the prophet said: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean from your idols and from your sins.” And again another prophet said: “Who is a God like you, who takes away sins and passes over unrighteousness? For he who wills it is merciful. He will turn again and have pity on us; he will sink our sins into the depths.”

For Paul says: “Brothers, all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ rose from the dead with the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in the renewal of life.” And again: “The old things have passed away; see, all has become new.” “Now salvation has drawn near to us; the night is spent, and the day is at hand.” “By faith we have found our access to this grace” — through our prince Vladimir — “in which we stand and glory.” “Now, set free from sin and made servants of the Lord, you have your fruit in holiness.” So we are bound to serve the Lord, rejoicing in him. David said: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling.” We cry out to our Lord God, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, who did not give us up as prey to their teeth. Their net was broken, and we were delivered” from the devil's deceit.

“His memory has perished with the noise, and the Lord endures forever,” praised by the sons of Rus', sung to in the Trinity, while the demons are cursed by believing men and devout women who have received baptism and repentance for the forgiveness of sins — the new Christian people, chosen by God.

Vladimir was enlightened himself, and his sons, and his land. He had 12 sons: Vysheslav, Iziaslav, Sviatopolk, Yaroslav, Vsevolod, Sviatoslav, Mstislav, Boris, Gleb, Stanislav, Pozvizd, and Sudislav. He seated Vysheslav in Novgorod, Iziaslav in Polotsk, Sviatopolk in Turov, and Yaroslav in Rostov. When Vysheslav, the eldest, died in Novgorod, he seated Yaroslav in Novgorod, Boris in Rostov, Gleb in Murom, Sviatoslav in the land of the Derevlianians, Vsevolod in Volodymyr, and Mstislav in Tmutorokan. Then Vladimir said: “This is not good: there are few towns around Kyiv.” And he began to build towns on the Desna, and on the Oster, and on the Trubizh, and on the Sula, and on the Stuhna. And he began to pick out the best men from the Slovenes, and from the Krivichians, and from the Chud, and from the Viatichians, and from these he settled the towns; for there was war from the Pechenegs. And he fought with them and overcame them.

In the year 6497.

In the year 6498.

In the year 6499. After this, as Vladimir lived in the Christian law, he planned to build a stone church of the holy Mother of God, and he sent and brought masters from the Greeks. When he had begun the building and brought the work to an end, he adorned it with icons, entrusted it to Anastas the Korsunian, and set the Korsunian priests to serve in it, and he gave to it everything he had taken in Korsun: the icons, and the church vessels, and the crosses.

In the year 6500. Vladimir founded the town of Bilhorod, and drew men into it from other towns, and brought many people into it, for he loved this town.

In the year 6501. Vladimir went against the Croats. When he came back from the war with the Croats, the Pechenegs came on from the other side, from the Sula, and Vladimir marched against them. He met them at the Trubizh at the ford, where Pereiaslav now stands. Vladimir stood on this bank, and the Pechenegs on that one, and neither side dared to cross to the other. The Pecheneg prince rode up to the river, called Vladimir over, and said to him: “Send out your man, and I will send mine, and let the two wrestle. If your man throws mine, we will not fight for three years […]. If our man throws yours, we will raid you for three years.” And the two sides parted. Vladimir came back to his camp and sent a crier through the camp, saying: “Is there no man here who will take on the Pecheneg in a bout?” And none was found anywhere. The next morning the Pechenegs arrived with their man, and ours was not there. Vladimir began to grieve, having sent through all his troops. One old man came up to him and said: “Prince! I have one younger son left at home; I came out with four, and he stayed home. From his childhood no one has ever thrown him. Once, when I scolded him while he was working a hide, he grew angry with me and tore the hide apart with his hands.”

When the prince heard this, he was glad, and quickly sent for him, and they brought him to the prince, and the prince told him the whole matter. The young man said: “Prince! I do not know whether I can beat him. Test me: is there an ox here, big and strong?” They found a strong ox, and he ordered it made furious, and they pressed a red-hot iron on it, and let the ox go. The ox ran past him, and he caught it by the side with his hand and pulled off its hide with the flesh, as much as his hand could grasp. Vladimir said to him: “You can wrestle him.” The next morning the Pechenegs came and began to call out: “Is there a man? Here is ours, ready.” Vladimir ordered his men to arm themselves that night. The Pechenegs sent out their man, and he was very big and terrible. Vladimir's man stepped out, and the Pecheneg looked at him and laughed, for he was middle-sized. They measured the ground between the two armies and let the two come toward each other. They gripped each other hard, and the young man strangled the Pecheneg to death with his hand, and threw him to the ground. The Rus' shouted, and the Pechenegs ran, and the Rus' chased them, cutting them down, and drove them out. Vladimir was glad, founded a town at that ford, and named it Pereiaslav, because the young man had carried off the fame. Vladimir made that young man and his father great men.

Vladimir returned to Kyiv with victory and great glory.

In the year 6502.

In the year 6503.

In the year 6504. Vladimir saw that the church was finished, and he went in and prayed to God, saying: “‘Lord God! Look down from heaven and see. Visit your vineyard, and bring to completion what your right hand planted’ — these new people, whose hearts you have turned to the knowing of you, the true God. And look upon this church, which I, your unworthy servant, have built in the name of her who bore you, the ever-virgin Mary, the Mother of God. And if anyone prays in this church, hear his prayer, and forgive all his sins for the sake of the prayer of the most holy Mother of God.” When he had prayed, he said this: “I give to this holy church of the Mother of God a tenth part of my property and of my towns.” And he laid down the oath, written out, in this church, saying: “Whoever goes against this, let him be accursed.” And he gave the tithe to Anastas the Korsunian. And he held a great feast that day for the boyars and the elders of the town, and gave away much property to the poor.

After this the Pechenegs came to Vasyliv, and Vladimir went out against them with a small retinue. When the two sides closed, Vladimir could not hold out against them; he ran under a bridge, and barely hid himself from his enemies. Then Vladimir vowed to build a church of the holy Transfiguration in Vasyliv, for it was the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on the day that battle was fought. When Vladimir had escaped this, he built the church and held a feast, boiling 300 vats of mead. He invited his boyars, and the governors, and the elders from all the towns, and many people, and gave out 300 grivnas to the poor. Prince Vladimir kept the feast there for 8 days, and returned to Kyiv for the Dormition of the holy Mother of God, and there again held a bright feast, calling together a countless multitude of people. Seeing his people Christian, he rejoiced in soul and body. And he did this every year.

For he loved the words of books. He once heard the gospel read: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy,” and again: “Sell your property and give to the poor,” and again: “Do not […] treasure up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth eats and thieves dig through, but treasure up treasure for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth eats nor thieves steal”; and David saying: “Good is the man who is merciful and gives”; and Solomon saying: “He who gives to the poor lends to God.” When he heard this, he ordered that every poor and beggarly person should come to the prince's court and take every need: drink and food, and money in kuns from the stores. He made this arrangement, saying: “The weak and the sick cannot make it to my court.” He ordered carts fitted out, loaded with bread, and meat, and fish, and vegetables of many kinds, and honey in barrels, and kvass in others, and sent them through the town, asking: “Where are the sick and the poor who cannot walk?” And to them they gave what they needed. And this he did for his own people: every week he appointed days for a feast in the great hall at his court, for boyars, and retinue men, and captains of hundreds, and captains of tens, and leading men to come, with the prince and without the prince. At that meal there was plenty of meat, and of cattle, and of game, and there was abundance of everything.

When they had drunk deep, they began to grumble at the prince, saying: “It is a bad thing for our heads, that we must eat with wooden spoons, and not silver ones.” Vladimir heard this and ordered silver spoons made for the retinue to eat with, saying: “I cannot win a retinue with silver and gold, but with a retinue I win silver and gold — as my grandfather and my father […] won gold and silver with their retinues.” For Vladimir loved his retinue and took counsel with them about the ordering of the land, and the laws of the land, and about wars. And he lived at peace with the princes around him: with Boleslav of Poland, and with Stephen of Hungary, and with Andronicus of the Czechs. And there was peace and love among them. And Vladimir lived in the fear of God. Robberies multiplied, and the bishops said to Vladimir: “See, the robbers have multiplied. Why do you not punish them?” He said: “I fear sin.” They said to him: “You are placed by God to punish the wicked and to show mercy to the good. It is right for you to punish the robber, but after a trial.” Vladimir did away with the fines and began to execute the robbers […]. Then the bishops and the elders said: “There is much war; let the fine-money go for horses and weapons.” And Vladimir said: “Let it be so.” And Vladimir lived by the arrangement of his grandfather and his father.

In the year 6505. Vladimir went to Novgorod to gather troops from the upper lands against the Pechenegs, for the war with them was great and unceasing. At that time the Pechenegs learned that the prince was not there. They came and stood around Bilhorod, and did not let anyone come out of the town. There was a great famine in the town, and Vladimir could not bring help, and he could not go there, for his troops had not yet gathered to him, and the Pechenegs were very many. The siege went on long, and the people in the town were worn down, and the famine was great. The people of the town held an assembly and said: “We are going to die of hunger, and there is no help from the prince. Is it better for us to die this way? Let us give ourselves up to the Pechenegs. Let them spare some of us and kill the rest; we are dying of hunger anyway.” And so they took their decision. But there was one old man who had not been at that assembly, and he asked: “Why did the people hold an assembly?” And they told him that the next morning the people meant to give themselves up to the Pechenegs.

When he heard this, he sent for the town elders and said to them: “I hear that you mean to give yourselves up to the Pechenegs.” They said: “The people cannot endure the hunger.” He said to them: “Listen to me. Do not give up for three days, and do what I tell you.” And they gladly promised to obey. He said to them: “Gather a handful each of oats, or wheat, or bran.” They went and gladly gathered it. He told the women to make the liquor from which they boil kissel, and he ordered a well dug, and a tub set in it, and the tub filled with the liquor. He ordered a second well dug and another tub set in it. He ordered them to find honey. They went and took a basket of honey, which lay stored in the prince's honey cellar. He ordered the honey stirred into water very thin, and poured into the tub, and the same in the other well. The next morning he sent for the Pechenegs.

The townspeople went out and said to the Pechenegs: “Take our hostages, and let ten of your men come into the town and see what is happening in our town.” The Pechenegs were glad, thinking that they meant to give themselves up, and they chose their best men and sent them into the town, to see what was happening in it. When they came into the town, the people said to them: “Why do you destroy yourselves? How can you outlast us? If you besiege us for 10 years, what can you do to us? We get our food from the earth. If you do not believe it, see with your own eyes.” And they led them to the well where the liquor was, dipped it up with a bucket, and poured it into pots. They cooked it in front of them, and when the kissel was cooked, they took it and led them to the other well, dipped up the honey water, and began to eat — first themselves, and then the Pechenegs. The Pechenegs were astonished and said: “Our princes will not believe this unless they eat it themselves.”

The townspeople filled a jug with the liquor and with the honey water from the wells and gave it to the Pechenegs. When they came back, they told all that had happened. Kissel was boiled, and the Pecheneg princes ate it and marveled. Then they took back their own hostages, released the ones they were holding, lifted the siege from the town, and went off to their own land.

In the year 6506.

In the year 6507.

In the year 6508. Malfrid died. In the same year Rogneda also died, the mother of Yaroslav.

In the year 6509. Iziaslav died, the father of Briachislav, son of Vladimir.

In the year 6510.

In the year 6511. Vseslav died, son of Iziaslav, grandson of Vladimir.

In the year 6512.

In the year 6513.

In the year 6514.

In the year 6515. The saints were brought to the holy Mother of God.

In the year 6516.

In the year 6517.

In the year 6518.

In the year 6519. Anna, Vladimir's empress, died.

In the year 6520.

In the year 6521.

In the year 6522. Yaroslav was in Novgorod, paying a set tribute of 2000 grivnas year by year to Kyiv, while a thousand grivnas was distributed to the retinue men in Novgorod. So all the governors of Novgorod had paid, but Yaroslav stopped paying this to Kyiv, to his father. Vladimir said: “Clear the road and lay the bridges” — for he meant to go against Yaroslav, his son. But he fell ill.

In the year 6523. Vladimir was getting ready to march against Yaroslav, so Yaroslav sent overseas and brought Varangians, because he feared his father. But God did not give the devil cause to rejoice. Vladimir fell ill; at that very time Boris was with him, and the Pechenegs were marching on Rus'. Vladimir sent Boris against them, while he himself was gravely ill, and in that illness he died, on the 15th day of the month of July. Vladimir the grand prince died at Berestovo, and they kept it hidden, for Sviatopolk was in Kyiv. At night they took up the floor between the storage cells, wrapped him in a carpet, lowered him with ropes to the ground, laid him on a sledge, carried him, and set him in the church of the Holy Mother of God, which he himself had built. When the people saw this, they gathered without number and wept for him: the boyars, as for the defender of their land; the poor, as for their defender and provider. And they laid him in a marble tomb and buried his body with great weeping—the blessed prince.

He was a new Constantine of great Rome: Constantine baptized all his people himself, and this man did the same as he. Before, he was in paganism and lusted after foul desires; afterward he gave himself to repentance, as the apostle said: “Where sin multiplied, grace abounded all the more.” Before, in ignorance, he had certain sins; afterward he wiped them out with repentance and alms, as it is said: “In what I find you, in that I will judge you.” As the prophet says: “As I live, Adonai the Lord: I do not want the death of a sinner, but that he turn from his way and live; turn back from your evil way.” For many who do righteous deeds and live by what is right turn from the right path toward death and perish; but others live crooked lives, come to their senses before death, and cleanse their sins with good repentance. As the prophet says: “The righteous man cannot be saved on the day of his sin. When they say to a righteous man, ‘You shall live,’ and he trusts in his righteousness and does wrong, none of his righteousness will be remembered; for the wrong he has done, in it he will die. And when they say to an unrighteous man, ‘You shall surely die,’ and he turns from his way and does justice and righteousness, he returns the pledge, repays the loan, and gives back what he seized. All the sins he committed will not be remembered, because he did justice and righteousness, and he will live by them. I will judge each of you by his own way, house of Israel!”

He died with a good confession; by repentance he wiped away his sins, and by almsgiving, which is better than every other good thing. “I want mercy, and not sacrifice.” Alms are better and higher than everything; they lift a person up to heaven itself, into the presence of God. As the angel said to Cornelius: “Your prayers and your alms have risen as a memorial before God.” It is a wonder how much good he did for the land of Rus' when he baptized it. Yet we, who are Christians, do not repay honor equal to what he gave us. If he had not baptized us, we would still be in the devil's deceit, as our forefathers perished. So if we brought diligence and prayers to God for him on the day of his passing, God, seeing our devotion to him, would glorify him. It is right for us to pray to God for him, because through him we came to know God. May the Lord give you what your heart desires and fulfill all your petitions, you who longed for the kingdom of heaven. May the Lord give you a crown with the righteous, food in paradise, joy and exultation with Abraham and the other patriarchs, as Solomon said: “When a righteous man dies, hope does not perish.” For this the Rus' people keep him in memory, commemorating his holy baptism and glorifying God with prayers and songs and psalms, singing to the Lord—a new people enlightened by the Holy Spirit, waiting for the great hope in God, our Savior Jesus Christ, to give each one, in return for his labors, joy beyond words; may all Christians attain that joy.

Sviatopolk took his father's place in Kyiv. He called the men of Kyiv together and began to give them property. They took it, but their hearts were not with him, for their brothers were with Boris. Boris was returning with his troops, having found no Pechenegs, when news came to him: “Your father has died.” He wept greatly for his father, for his father loved him more than all his sons, and he came and halted at the Alta. His father's retinue said to him: “Here is your father's retinue and your father's troops. Go and sit in Kyiv on your father's throne.” He said: “May that never be—for me to raise my hand against my elder brother. If my father has died, then this brother takes my father's place.” Hearing this, the troops went away from him, and Boris stayed on with his young retainers. Sviatopolk was filled with iniquity; he took on Cain's way of thinking. He sent to Boris, saying: “I want to have love with you, and I will add to what our father left you”—deceiving him, planning how to destroy him. Sviatopolk came by night to Vyshhorod and secretly called Putsha and the boyars of Vyshhorod, and said to them: “Do you accept me with all your heart?”

Putsha said: “We are ready to lay down our heads for you, and the men of Vyshhorod with us.” He said to them: “Tell no one. Go and kill my brother Boris.” They quickly promised him to do it. Of such men Solomon said: “They are quick to shed blood without justice. They gather evil for themselves. They lie in ambush for blood. Such are the ways of everyone who works iniquity; by ungodliness they take their own souls.” The men who were sent came by night and drew near, and they heard blessed Boris singing the morning service—for it had been reported to him that they meant to destroy him. Rising, he began to sing: “Lord, how those who trouble me have multiplied! Many rise up against me.” And again: “For your arrows have sunk into me, for I am ready for wounds, and my suffering is before me.” And again he said: “Lord, hear my prayer, and do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living will be justified before you; for the enemy has pursued my soul.”

When he finished the six psalms and saw that the men who had been sent were there to destroy him, he began to sing from the psalter: “Fat bulls have surrounded me; the assembly of evildoers has hemmed me in. Lord my God, I have hoped in you; save me, and deliver me from all who pursue me.” After this he began to sing the canon. And so, at the morning service, he prayed, gazing at the icon, speaking to the image of the Master: “Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared on earth in this form for the sake of our salvation, who was willing by your own will to nail your hands to the cross, and who took suffering for our sins—make me too worthy to accept suffering. But I do not accept it from enemies; I accept it from my own brother. Lord, do not count this sin against him.” When he had prayed, he lay down on his bed. And then they rushed at him like wild beasts around the tent; they pushed in their spears and pierced Boris, and his servant, who had thrown himself on him, they pierced along with him. For Boris loved this servant.

This young man was a Hungarian by birth, named George, and Boris loved him greatly; Boris had placed a golden neck ring on him, and he was standing by him. They killed many of Boris's retainers. They could not pull the ring off George's neck quickly, so they cut off his head and so took the ring, and they threw the head away; that is why they later could not find his body among the dead. The cursed men killed Boris, wrapped him in the tent, put him on a cart, and carried him off while he was still breathing. The cursed Sviatopolk saw this—that he was still breathing—and sent two Varangians to finish him off. They came and saw that he was still alive, and one of them drew his sword and stabbed him to the heart. And so the blessed Boris died. He received a crown from Christ God with the righteous; he was numbered with the prophets and the apostles and took his place among the choir of martyrs, resting in Abraham's bosom, seeing joy beyond words, singing with the angels and rejoicing with the choirs of the saints.

They laid his body—they brought it secretly to Vyshhorod, to the church of St. Basil. The cursed murderers came to Sviatopolk as if they had won praise, these lawless men. The names of these lawbreakers are Putsha, Talets, Elovich, and Lyashko; their father is Satan. Such men are servants of demons: demons are sent out for evil, and angels are sent down for good. An angel never does evil to a person; it always plans good for him. Angels also help Christians and protect them from the enemy who opposes them. Demons are always hunting for evil, envying man, because they see that man is honored by God; envying him, they are quick to be sent down for evil. For it is written: “Who will go and deceive Ahab?” And a demon said: “Here, I will go.” A wicked man who hurries to evil is worse than a demon: demons fear God, but a wicked man neither fears God nor feels shame before men; demons fear the Lord's cross, but a wicked man does not even fear the cross.

That is why David also said: “If you truly speak what is right and judge what is right, you sons of men—for you work iniquity in your heart; your hands weave unrighteousness on the earth. Sinners are estranged from the womb; they have gone astray from the belly, speaking lies. Their fury is like the likeness […] of a serpent.”

The cursed Sviatopolk thought to himself: “I have already killed Boris. But how can I kill Gleb?” Taking Cain's intent, he sent to Gleb with deceit, saying this: “Come quickly. Your father is calling you; he is very ill.” Gleb mounted a horse and went with a small retinue, for he was obedient to his father. When he came to the Volga and was riding over the plain, his horse stumbled in a rut and slightly injured its leg. He came to Smolensk, went on from Smolensk within sight of the town, and stopped at Smiadyn on a boat. At that time news had already come to Yaroslav from Predslava about their father's death, and Yaroslav sent to Gleb, saying: “Do not go. Your father has died, and your brother has been killed by Sviatopolk.”

Hearing this, Gleb cried out loudly with tears, mourning his father, and even more his brother, and he began to pray with tears, saying: “Woe is me, Lord! Better for me to die with my brother than to live in this world. Brother, if I had seen your angelic face, I would have died with you. Why then am I left alone? Where are your words, my beloved brother, that you said to me? Now I will never hear your gentle teaching again. If you have received boldness before God, pray for me, that I too may receive the same passion. Better for me to die with you than to live in this deceitful world.” While he was praying like this with tears, the men sent by Sviatopolk to destroy Gleb suddenly arrived. At once they seized Gleb's boat and drew their weapons, and Gleb's retainers lost heart.

The cursed Goriaser ordered Gleb to be cut down at once. Gleb's cook, named Torchin, drew a knife and slaughtered Gleb like an innocent lamb.

He was offered as a sacrifice to God, a spiritual sacrifice in the fragrance of a sweet smell, and he received a crown and entered the heavenly dwellings. He saw the brother he longed for and rejoiced with him with joy beyond words, the joy the two of them had won by their love as brothers. “See how good and how lovely it is for brothers to live together!” But the cursed men turned back, as David said: “The sinners shall return to hell.” And again: “The sinners drew their weapons and bent their bows, to shoot down the poor and the needy, to slaughter the upright in heart; and their weapons entered their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. The sinners will perish; vanishing, they will perish like smoke.”

When they came back and told Sviatopolk, “We have done what you ordered,” his heart was very glad when he heard it. He did not know what David says: “Why do you boast of evil, mighty man? Your tongue has devised iniquity, like a sharpened razor. You have practiced deceit; you have loved evil more than goodness, unrighteousness more than speaking the truth. You have loved every destructive word, you deceitful tongue. Therefore God will crush you utterly and cast you out of your tent, and your root from the land of the living.” As Solomon also says: “I will laugh at your destruction and rejoice when ruin comes upon you. Then they will eat the fruit of their labor and be filled with their own wickedness.”

Gleb had been killed and thrown on the bank between two logs. Afterward they took him up, carried him, and laid him beside his brother Boris, by the church of St. Basil.

The two of them are joined in body, and even more in soul, and they dwell with the Master of all, the emperor, in endless joy and in light beyond words. They give the gifts of healing to the land of Rus', and to others who come with the true faith they give healing: to the lame, walking; to the blind, sight; to the sick, cures; to those in chains, release; to prisoners, open doors; to the sad, comfort; to those in trouble, deliverance. They are the protectors of the land of Rus', bright lamps always shining and always praying to the Lord for their own people. So we too must worthily praise the passion-bearers of Christ, praying earnestly to them and saying: “Rejoice, passion-bearers of Christ, protectors of the land of Rus', who give healing to those who come to you with faith and love. Rejoice, inhabitants of heaven, angels in the flesh, like-minded servants, equal in rank and alike in form, one in soul with the saints; therefore you give healing to all who suffer. Rejoice, Boris and Gleb, divinely wise, like streams flowing from a wellspring of life-giving, healing water; it pours out to the faithful people for their healing. Rejoice, radiant beams who have appeared, shining like lamps over the whole land of Rus', always driving away the darkness, showing yourselves with unswerving faith. Rejoice, blessed ones, who gained an eye that never sleeps and took into your hearts the soul's resolve to fulfill God's holy commandments. Rejoice, brothers together in the golden-bright places, the heavenly dwellings, and in unfading glory, of which you were found worthy as was fitting. Rejoice, plainly radiant with God's light; you go around the whole world, driving out demons and healing sicknesses—most kindly lamps and warm protectors, standing with God, ever kindled by divine beams, good passion-bearers, giving light to the souls of the faithful people. The light-bearing love of heaven has raised you high; therefore in the heavenly life you inherited the beauty of all things: glory, the food of paradise, the light of understanding, the beauty of joy. Rejoice, who give drink to the heart and drive away bitterness and sickness, who heal evil passions; most glorious ones, with drops of your holy blood you reddened the purple robe, and wearing it you reign in beauty with Christ forever, praying for the new Christian people and for your own kin. The land of Rus' is blessed by your blood and by the laying of your relics in the church; you give it divine light, and in it, with the martyrs, you two, like martyrs, pray for your own people. The church rejoices in the radiant sun; it has gained its rising and is always lit by your suffering, to the glory of you, martyrs. Rejoice, bright stars rising in the morning. And now, our Christ-loving protectors and passion-bearers, subdue the pagans under the feet of our princes, praying to the Master and our God that we may live in peace, in unity and in health; deliver us from civil war and from the devil's cunning; and count us too, who sing and honor your noble feast, worthy, for all the ages, to the end.”

The cursed, wicked Sviatopolk killed Sviatoslav: he sent men to the Hungarian Mountain, where Sviatoslav was fleeing to the Hungarians. Then he began to think: “I will kill all my brothers and take the power of Rus' alone.” He thought in his pride, not knowing that “God gives power to whomever he wishes; the Most High sets up the emperor and the prince and gives it to whomever he wants.” For if a land stands right before God, God sets over it an emperor and a prince who is righteous, who loves judgment and righteousness, and he appoints a ruler and a judge who administers justice. When the princes of a land are just, many sins are forgiven; but when they are evil and cunning, God brings greater evil on that land, because the prince is the head of the land […]. So Isaiah said: “They have sinned from head to foot—that is, from the emperor to the common people.” “Woe to that city whose prince is a youth,” one who loves to drink wine with the lyre and with young counselors. God gives such princes for sins and takes away the old and wise ones, as Isaiah says: “The Lord will take away from Jerusalem the strong man and the mighty warrior, the brave man and the judge and the prophet, the gentle elder and the wonderful counselor and the wise craftsman and the understanding helper. And I will set a boy as their prince and a mocker as their ruler, one who lords it over them.”

The cursed Sviatopolk began to rule in Kyiv. He called the people together and began giving gifts: to some fur cloaks, to others kunas, and he gave out a great deal. Yaroslav did not yet know of his father's death. Many Varangians were with Yaroslav, and they did violence to the men of Novgorod. The men of Novgorod rose up against them and killed the Varangians in Poromon's courtyard. Yaroslav was angry, went to Rakom, and sat in the compound. He sent to the men of Novgorod and said: “I cannot bring these men back to life.” Then he called to himself the leading men who had killed the Varangians, tricked them, and cut down a thousand of them. That same night news came to him from Kyiv from his sister Predslava: “Your father has died, and Sviatopolk sits in Kyiv. He has killed Boris and sent men after Gleb. Guard yourself well against him.” Hearing this, Yaroslav grieved for his father, for his brother, and for his retinue.

In the morning Yaroslav gathered the remaining men of Novgorod and said: “O beloved retinue, whom I cut down yesterday—how I need them now.” He wiped away his tears and said to them at the assembly: “My father has died, and Sviatopolk sits in Kyiv, killing his brothers.” The men of Novgorod said: “Even though our brothers have been cut down, prince, we can still fight for you.” Yaroslav gathered a thousand Varangians and 40,000 other troops and marched on Sviatopolk, calling on God and saying: “I did not begin the killing of my brothers—he did. Let God be the avenger of my brothers' blood, for he shed the blood of Boris and righteous Gleb without cause. Will he not do the same to me? But judge me, Lord, in righteousness, so that the malice of the sinner may come to an end.” And he marched on Sviatopolk.

Hearing that Yaroslav was coming, Sviatopolk gathered countless troops—Rus' and Pechenegs—and came out against him to Liubech on the far side of the Dnieper, while Yaroslav was on this side.

In the year 6524. Yaroslav came against Sviatopolk, and they stood facing each other on opposite banks of the Dnieper. Neither side dared cross to the other, and they stood against each other for 3 months. Sviatopolk's commander began riding along the bank, mocking the men of Novgorod, and saying: “Why have you come with this cripple? You are carpenters! Let us set you to cutting timber for our houses.” The men of Novgorod heard this and said to Yaroslav: “Tomorrow we will cross over to them. If anyone does not go with us, we will kill him ourselves.” It was already at the first frost. Sviatopolk stood between two lakes, and he drank all night with his retinue. In the morning Yaroslav drew up his retinue in battle order and crossed against the dawn. Landing on the bank, they pushed the boats away from the shore and moved toward the enemy, and the two sides met at that place. There was a fierce slaughter. The lake left the Pechenegs no way to help. Yaroslav's men pressed Sviatopolk's troops to the lake, and they stepped onto the ice; the ice broke with Sviatopolk's troops on it, and many drowned in the water, and Yaroslav began to win. Sviatopolk saw this and fled, and Yaroslav won. Sviatopolk fled to the Poles. Yaroslav sat in Kyiv on his father's throne. Yaroslav was then 28 years old.

In the year 6525. Yaroslav entered Kyiv, and the churches burned.

In the year 6526. Boleslav set out with Sviatopolk against Yaroslav with the Poles. Yaroslav gathered a great host of Rus', Varangians, and Slovenes, and marched against Boleslav and Sviatopolk. He came to Volhynia, and the two sides took their stand on opposite banks of the Bug River. Yaroslav had a foster-father and commander named Budy, and Budy began to mock Boleslav, saying: “What if we pierce your fat belly with a pike?” Boleslav was big and heavy, so that he could not even sit a horse, but he was clever. Boleslav said: “If this insult […] does not pain you—then I will perish alone!” He mounted a horse and waded into the river, and his troops after him. Yaroslav did not manage to form up in time, and Boleslav defeated Yaroslav. Yaroslav fled to Novgorod with four men. Boleslav entered Kyiv with Sviatopolk. Boleslav said: “Send my retinue out through the towns to be fed.” And it was so.

When Yaroslav fled to Novgorod, he wanted to run overseas, but the governor Konstantin, son of Dobrynia, and the men of Novgorod chopped up Yaroslav's boats, saying: “We can still fight Boleslav and Sviatopolk.” They began collecting money: four kunas from each man, ten grivnas from each elder, and eighty grivnas from each boyar. They brought Varangians, paid them the money, and Yaroslav gathered many troops. While Boleslav was sitting in Kyiv, the senseless Sviatopolk said: “Wherever there are Poles in the towns, kill them.” They killed the Poles. Boleslav fled from Kyiv, taking Yaroslav's property and boyars and his sisters, and he put Nastas, the keeper of the tithe, in charge of the property, for Nastas had won his trust by deceit. He led a great crowd of people away with him, seized the Cherven towns for himself, and came back to his own land. Sviatopolk began to rule in Kyiv.

Yaroslav marched on Sviatopolk and defeated him, and Sviatopolk fled to the Pechenegs.

In the year 6527. Sviatopolk came with the Pechenegs in great force. Yaroslav gathered a multitude of troops and went out against him to the Alta. Yaroslav took his stand on the spot where they had killed Boris. Lifting his hands to heaven, he said: “The blood of my brother cries out to you, Master! Avenge the blood of this righteous man, as you avenged the blood of Abel, laying on Cain groaning and trembling—so lay it on this one.” And when he had prayed, he said: “My brothers! Though you have gone from here in body, help me by your prayers against this proud murderer.” When he had said this, the two sides moved against each other, and both covered the Alta field with the multitude of their troops. It was then a Friday, and the sun was rising, and the two sides met. There was a slaughter such as had never been seen in Rus'. They seized each other by the hands and cut each other down; they closed three times, and blood flowed through the hollows. By evening Yaroslav had won, and Sviatopolk fled. As he fled, a demon fell on him, his bones went limp, and he could not sit on a horse; they carried him on a litter. They carried him to Brest, fleeing with him. He kept saying: “Run with me—they are chasing us.” His retainers kept sending men ahead to ask whether anyone was pursuing him. No one was following, yet they ran on with him. He lay in his weakness, and, starting up, would say: “Here they chase us, there they chase us—run!” He could not bear to stay in one place. He ran through the Polish land, driven by God's wrath, and ran through the wilderness between the Czechs and the Poles, and there he threw his life away in misery. And this was just: he was unrighteous, so when judgment came after he left this world, he received the torments of the damned. The destroying wound sent against Sviatopolk showed itself plainly and drove him without mercy into death; after death he is tortured and bound forever. His grave is in that wilderness to this day, and a foul stench comes out of it. God made this an example for the princes of Rus': if they hear of this and still do the same, they will receive the same punishment, and greater than this, because they know what happened and still commit such evil fratricide. Cain received 7-fold vengeance for killing Abel, and Lamech 70-fold: Cain did not know that vengeance would come from God, but Lamech knew the punishment that had come on his forefather and still committed murder. For Lamech said to his two wives: “I killed a man to my harm and a young man to my wound; therefore, seventy-fold vengeance is on me, because, knowing it, I did this.” Lamech killed the two brothers of Enoch and took both of their wives for himself. This Sviatopolk was a new Abimelech, who was born from adultery and killed his brothers, the sons of Gideon; so it was with this one too.

Yaroslav came and sat in Kyiv, wiping away sweat together with his retinue, having shown victory and great toil.

In the year 6528. A son was born to Yaroslav, and he named him Vladimir.

In the year 6529. Briachislav, son of Iziaslav and grandson of Vladimir, came against Novgorod. He seized Novgorod, took many men of Novgorod and their property, and set out for Polotsk again. When he came to the Sudomir River, Yaroslav […] came out of Kyiv, and on the 7th day caught up with him there. Yaroslav defeated Briachislav and brought the men of Novgorod […] back […] to Novgorod, and Briachislav fled to Polotsk.

In the year 6530. Yaroslav came to Brest. At that time Mstislav was in Tmutorokan, and he marched against the Kasogians. Hearing this, Rededia, the prince of the Kasogians, came out against him. When the two armies stood facing each other, Rededia said to Mstislav: “Why should we destroy our retinues against each other? Let the two of us come down and wrestle. If you win, you will take my property, my wife, and my land. If I win, I will take everything of yours.” Mstislav said: “So be it.” They rode toward each other, and Rededia said to Mstislav: “We will not fight with weapons, but in a wrestling bout.” And they began to wrestle hard. They wrestled a long time, and Mstislav began to weaken, for Rededia was big and strong. Mstislav said: “O most holy Mother of God, help me! If I defeat this man, I will build a church in your name.” Having said this, he struck him to the ground. Then he drew a knife and cut Rededia's throat with it, and there Rededia was killed. Mstislav went into his land and took all his property, his wife, and his children, and he laid tribute on the Kasogians. When he came back to Tmutorokan, he laid the foundations of the church of the Holy Mother of God and built it, and it still stands in Tmutorokan to this day.

In the year 6531. Mstislav marched against Yaroslav with the Khazars and the Kasogians.

In the year 6532. While Yaroslav was in Novgorod, Mstislav came from Tmutorokan to Kyiv, but the men of Kyiv did not receive him. He sat on the throne in Chernihiv, while Yaroslav was in Novgorod at that time.

In that same year sorcerers rose up in the Suzdal land. At the devil's prompting and instigation they killed the old leading people, saying that they were holding back the grain stores. There was a great uprising and famine through that whole land. All the people went up the Volga to the Bulgars and brought back grain, and so they came back to life. Yaroslav heard about those sorcerers, came to Suzdal, seized them, and banished some, while he put others to death, saying this: “God brings famine, or plague, or drought, or some other punishment on every land for its sins, and man knows nothing of it.” Yaroslav turned back and went to Novgorod, and he sent overseas for Varangians.

Akun came with the Varangians. Akun was blind, and his cloak was woven with gold. He came to Yaroslav, and Yaroslav set out with Akun against Mstislav. Hearing of it, Mstislav came out against them to Listven. In the evening Mstislav drew up his retinue in battle order: he placed the Severianians in the front line against the Varangians, and he himself took position with his own retinue on the wings. Night came on, and there was darkness and thunder and lightning and rain. Mstislav said to his retinue: “Let us move against them.” Mstislav and Yaroslav moved against each other, and the Varangians met the Severianians in the front line. The Varangians toiled, cutting down the Severianians, and then Mstislav advanced with his own retinue and began cutting down the Varangians. There was a violent slaughter: the lightning flashed and the weapons gleamed; there was a great storm and a fierce and terrible battle. Yaroslav saw that his side was losing, and he fled with Yakun, the Varangian prince, and Akun lost his golden cloak there. Yaroslav went back to Novgorod, and Yakun went overseas. At dawn Mstislav […] saw his own Severianians and Yaroslav's Varangians lying cut down, and he said: “Who would not rejoice at this? Here lies a Severianian, there lies a Varangian—and my own retinue is unharmed.” Mstislav sent men after Yaroslav, saying: “Sit on your own throne in Kyiv, for you are the elder brother, and let this side be mine.” Yaroslav did not dare go to Kyiv until they were reconciled. So Yaroslav sat in Novgorod, while Yaroslav's men sat in Kyiv. In the same year a second son was born to Yaroslav, and he named him Iziaslav.

In the year 6533.

In the year 6534. Yaroslav gathered many troops and came to Kyiv, and made peace with his brother Mstislav at Gorodets. And they divided the Rus' land along the Dnieper: Yaroslav took this side, and Mstislav that one. And they began to live in peace and brotherly love, and strife and turmoil ceased, and there was great quiet in the land.

In the year 6535. A third son was born to Yaroslav, and he named him Sviatoslav.

In the year 6536.

In the year 6537. It was a peaceful year.

In the year 6538. Yaroslav took Belz. And a fourth son was born to Yaroslav, and he named him Vsevolod. In that year Yaroslav went against the Chud and defeated them, and founded the town of Yuriev. At that time Boleslav the Great died in Poland, and there was a great revolt in the Polish land: the people rose up and killed their bishops, and their priests, and their boyars, and there was rebellion among them.

In the year 6539. Yaroslav and Mstislav gathered many troops and went against the Poles, and took the Cherven towns again, and ravaged the Polish land, and brought back many Poles and divided them. Yaroslav settled his own along the Ros, and they are there to this day.

In the year 6540. Yaroslav began to build towns along the Ros.

In the year 6541. Eustathius, Mstislav's son, died.

In the year 6542.

In the year 6543.

In the year 6544. Mstislav went out hunting, fell ill, and died. They laid him in the church of the Holy Savior, which he himself had built; its walls had been raised in his time only to a height that a man could touch with his hand from horseback. Mstislav was stout of body, red of face, with large eyes, brave in battle, and merciful; he loved his retinue greatly, did not spare his property, and never forbade drink or food. After him Yaroslav took his rule, and became sole ruler of the Rus' land. Yaroslav went to Novgorod, set his son Vladimir in Novgorod, and made Zhidiata bishop. At that time a son was born to Yaroslav, and they named him Viacheslav.

While Yaroslav was in Novgorod, news came to him that the Pechenegs were besieging Kyiv. Yaroslav gathered many troops — Varangians and Slovenes — and came to Kyiv and entered his town. The Pechenegs were past counting. Yaroslav marched out of the town and drew up his retinue in line of battle: he placed the Varangians in the center, the men of Kyiv on the right flank, and the Novgorodians on the left wing, and they took their stand before the town. The Pechenegs began to attack, and the two armies met on the spot where St. Sophia, the metropolitan church of Rus', now stands, for at that time it was a field outside the town. There was a fierce battle, and by evening Yaroslav barely won. The Pechenegs fled in different directions and did not know where they were fleeing; some, as they ran, drowned in the Setoml, and others in other rivers, and so they perished, and the rest of them ran off, to this day. In that same year Yaroslav imprisoned his brother Sudislav in Pskov, on slander that had been told him.

In the year 6545. Yaroslav founded the great city of Kyiv, at which city are the Golden Gates; he also founded the church of St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, the metropolitan church, and after it a stone church on the Golden Gates, in honor of the Holy Mother of God — the Annunciation. This wise prince Yaroslav built the Annunciation on the gates for this reason: that the holy Annunciation of the Lord, and the prayer of the Holy Mother of God and of the archangel Gabriel, might always give joy to that city. After that came the monastery of St. George and of St. Irene. In his days the Christian faith began to bear fruit and to spread, and monks began to multiply, and monasteries began to appear. And Yaroslav loved the church rules, and loved priests greatly; he loved monks above all, and gave himself to books, reading them often day and night. He gathered many scribes and had them translate from Greek into the Slavic tongue and script. They copied many books, by which believing people are taught and take delight in the teaching of the divine word. For just as when one man plows the ground, another sows it, and others reap and eat food that never fails, so it is here: his father Vladimir plowed and softened the ground, that is, gave it light through baptism; this Yaroslav, son of Vladimir, sowed the hearts of believing people with the written word; and we reap, receiving the teaching of books.

Great is the gain to a man from book learning: by books we are shown and taught the ways of repentance, and from the written words we gain wisdom and self-restraint. Books are the rivers that water the whole world; they are the springs of wisdom; in books is a depth beyond measuring; by them […] we are comforted in sorrow, and they are the bridle that holds us back. Wisdom is great, as Solomon praised it, when he said: “I, Wisdom, made light to dwell and understanding, and I called reason. The fear of the Lord. My light, my wisdom, my firm support. By me kings reign, and the mighty write what is right. By me nobles are made great, and rulers hold the land. I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me.” If you search the books for wisdom […] diligently, you will find great gain for your soul. For whoever reads books often converses with God or with holy men. When he reads the words of the prophets, the teachings of the Gospels and the Apostles, and the lives of the holy fathers […], the soul receives great gain.

This Yaroslav, as we have said, loved books; he had many copied and placed them in the church of St. Sophia, which he himself built. He adorned it with precious icons, and with gold and silver and church vessels; in it the customary songs are given to God at the customary hours. He also built other churches in towns and in places, appointed priests, gave them a fixed share of his property, and ordered them to teach the people and to come often to the churches; for a priest must often teach the people, because God has entrusted that duty to him. Priests and Christian people multiplied. And Yaroslav rejoiced, seeing many churches and so many Christians; but the enemy grieved, being defeated by the new Christian people.

In the year 6546. Yaroslav went against the Yatvingians.

In the year 6547. The church of the Holy Mother of God, which Vladimir, Yaroslav's father, had built, was consecrated by Metropolitan Theopemptos.

In the year 6548. Yaroslav went against Lithuania.

In the year 6549. Yaroslav went against the Mazovians in boats.

In the year 6550. Vladimir, Yaroslav's son, went against the Yam and defeated them. Then the horses of Vladimir's army died off, and while the horses were still breathing men stripped the skins off them: such was the plague among the horses.

In the year 6551. Yaroslav sent Vladimir his son against the Greeks and gave him many troops, and entrusted the command to Vyshata, Jan's father. Vladimir set out for Constantinople in boats, reached the Danube, and from the Danube went on toward Constantinople. A great storm arose and smashed the ships of the Rus', and the wind smashed the prince's ship, and Ivan Tvorimirich, Yaroslav's commander, took the prince in onto his own ship. The rest of Vladimir's troops, 6,000 in number, were thrown onto the shore; they wanted to go back to Rus', and not one of the prince's retinue went with them. Vyshata said: “I will go with them.” And he stepped down from the ship to them, saying: “If I live, it is with them; and if I perish — it is with the retinue.” And they set out, wanting to reach Rus'. Word reached the Greeks that the sea had destroyed the Rus', and the emperor, named Monomakh, sent 14 boats after them. Vladimir, seeing that they were coming after them, turned back, destroyed the Greek boats, and returned to Rus', having moved over to his own ship. Vyshata was taken with those thrown onto the shore and brought to Constantinople, and many of the Rus' were blinded. After three years, when peace had been made, Vyshata was let go to Rus', to Yaroslav. At that time Yaroslav gave his sister in marriage to Casimir, and Casimir gave for her bride-price 800 people, whom Boleslav had taken captive when he defeated Yaroslav.

In the year 6552. Two princes were dug up — Yaropolk and Oleg, sons of Sviatoslav; their bones were baptized, and they were laid in the church of the Holy Mother of God in Volodymyr. In the same year Briachislav died, son of Iziaslav, grandson of Vladimir, father of Vseslav, and his son Vseslav sat on his throne; his mother bore him by way of sorcery. When his mother bore him, there was a caul on his head, and the sorcerers said to his mother: “Here is a caul on his head: bind it on him, and let him wear it to the end of his life.” And Vseslav wore it to his dying day; that is why he shows no mercy in bloodshed.

In the year 6553. Vladimir founded St. Sophia in Novgorod.

In the year 6554. In that year there was great quiet.

In the year 6555. Yaroslav went against the Mazovians and defeated them, and killed their prince Moislav, and subdued them to Casimir.

In the year 6556.

In the year 6557.

In the year 6558. Yaroslav's wife the princess died on the 10th of February.

In the year 6559. Yaroslav appointed Hilarion metropolitan of Rus' in St. Sophia, having gathered the bishops.

And now let us tell why the Caves Monastery got its name.

The devout prince Yaroslav loved Berestovo and the church of the Holy Apostles that stood there, and kept many priests in its service; and among them was a priest named Hilarion, a good man, learned in books and given to fasting. He used to walk from Berestovo to the Dnieper, to the hill where the old Caves Monastery now stands, and there he made his prayers, for there was a great forest there. He dug there a small cave, two sazhens in size, and coming from Berestovo he sang the hours and prayed there to God in secret. Then God laid it on the prince's heart, and he made him metropolitan of St. Sophia, and so that little cave remained. Not many days after, there was a certain man, called by his worldly name, from the town of Liubech; God laid it on his heart to go to that land. He set out for the Holy Mountain. There he saw the monasteries and came to love the monastic life; he came to one of the monasteries there and begged the abbot of it to lay the monastic habit on him. The abbot listened to him, tonsured him, and gave him the name Anthony; he instructed him and taught him the monastic rule, and said to him: “Go back to Rus', and be a blessing from the Holy Mountain, and many monks will come from you.” He blessed him and let him go, saying to him: “Go in peace.”

Anthony came to Kyiv and wondered where to live; he went round the monasteries, and did not like them, God not willing it. He began to walk through the wild places and the hills, looking for where God would show him a place. He came to the hill where Hilarion had dug his cave, loved the spot, and settled in it, and began to pray to God with tears, saying: “Lord! Establish me in this place, and let the blessing of the Holy Mountain and of my abbot, who tonsured me, rest on this place.” And he began to live there, praying to God, eating dry bread and that only every other day, drinking water in measure, digging out the cave, giving himself no rest by day or by night, staying at his toil, his vigils, and his prayers. After this good people learned of him and began to come to him, bringing him what he needed. And when the fame of great Anthony spread […], people came to him and asked his blessing. Then great Prince Yaroslav died, and his son Iziaslav took his rule and sat in Kyiv. And Anthony was glorified in the Rus' land. Iziaslav learned of his way of life and came with his retinue, asking for his blessing and his prayers.

Great Anthony became known to all and was held in honor; brothers began to come to him, and he began to receive them and to tonsure them. Brothers gathered to him to the number of twelve; they dug a great cave, and a church, and cells, which are there to this day in the cave under the old monastery.

When the brothers were gathered, Anthony said to them: “See, God has brought you together, brothers. You are of the blessing of the Holy Mountain: the abbot of the Holy Mountain tonsured me, and I tonsured you; let the first blessing be on you from God, and the second from the Holy Mountain.” And when he had said this to them […]: “Live by yourselves. I will set an abbot over you, and I myself want to go and settle alone on another hill, as I was used to before, keeping to myself.” And he set over them an abbot named Varlaam, and went himself to the hill and dug a cave, the one that is under the new monastery; there he ended his life, living in virtue and never coming out of the cave for 40 years, never going anywhere; his relics lie in it to this day. The brothers and the abbot lived in the cave. When the brothers grew many and could no longer all fit in the cave, they planned to build a monastery outside the cave. And the abbot and the brothers came to Anthony and said to him: “Father! The brothers have grown many, and we cannot all fit in the cave. If God commands it and your prayer allows it, let us build a small church outside the cave.” And Anthony gave the order.

They bowed to him and built a small church over the cave in the name of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God. And God began to multiply the monks through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God, and the brothers and the abbot took counsel to build a monastery. And the brothers said […] to Anthony: “Father! The brothers are growing in number, and we would like to build a monastery.” Anthony, rejoicing, said: “Blessed be God in all things; and by the prayers of the Holy Mother of God and of the fathers of the Holy Mountain, may it be with you.” Saying this, he sent one of the brothers to Prince Iziaslav with this message: “My prince! God is multiplying the brotherhood, and the place is small; give us that hill which is above the cave.” Iziaslav heard this, rejoiced, sent his men, and gave them that hill. The abbot and the brothers laid the foundations of a great church, fenced the monastery with posts, built many cells, finished the church, and adorned it with icons. From that time people began to call it the Caves Monastery, because the monks had lived before in the cave; from that it got the name Caves Monastery.

So the Caves Monastery began from the blessing of the Holy Mountain.

When the monastery was finished and Varlaam held the office of abbot, Iziaslav founded the monastery of St. Demetrius and made Varlaam abbot of St. Demetrius, wanting to build a monastery higher than this one, trusting in wealth. Many monasteries are founded by emperors and by boyars and by riches, but they are not like those founded by tears, and fasting, and prayer, and watching. Anthony had no gold and no silver, but he won what he had by fasting and tears, as I have said. When Varlaam had gone to St. Demetrius and the brothers had taken counsel, they went to the elder Anthony and said: “Set an abbot over us.” He said to them: “Whom do you want?” They said to him: “The one whom God wants and you.” And he said: “Who among you is better than Theodosius? He is obedient, and meek, and humble; let him be your abbot.” The brothers rejoiced, bowed to the elder, and made Theodosius abbot of the brotherhood, then twenty in number.

When Theodosius took the monastery, he began to keep great self-restraint, and fasting, and prayers with tears, and began to gather many monks; he gathered a brotherhood of 100. He began to look for a monastic rule; and then Michael was found, a monk of the Studion Monastery, who had come from Greece with Metropolitan George, and he began to ask him for the rule of the Studite monks. He found it with him, wrote it out, and established it in his monastery: how to sing the monastic hymns, and how to make the bows, and how to read the readings, and the standing in church, and the whole order of the church service, and the sitting at table, and what food to eat on which days — all set in order. Theodosius acquired all this and handed it on to his monastery. From that monastery all monasteries took the rule, in every monastery; for that reason the Caves Monastery is honored as the eldest of all and holds honor above all.

While Theodosius lived in the monastery, leading a virtuous life and keeping the monastic rule, he received everyone who came to him; and I too came to him, a poor and unworthy servant, and he received me, when I was 17 years old from my birth. This I have written down and set forth: and in what year the monastery began, and why it is called the Caves Monastery. About the life of Theodosius we shall speak again.

In the year 6560. Vladimir, Yaroslav's eldest son, died in Novgorod, and was buried in St. Sophia, which he himself had built.

In the year 6561. A son, Vladimir, was born to Vsevolod, by the Greek princess.

In the year 6562. The grand prince of Rus', Yaroslav, died. While he was still alive he gave his sons their instructions, saying to them: “See, I am leaving this world; and you, my sons, keep love among yourselves, for you are brothers of one father and one mother. If you live in love among yourselves, God will be in you, and will bring your enemies under you, and you will live in peace. But if you live in hatred, in quarrels and fighting one another, then you yourselves will perish, and you will lose the land of your fathers and grandfathers, which they won with great toil. So obey brother to brother, and live in peace. And this I entrust in my own place: my throne to my eldest son, your brother Iziaslav — Kyiv. Obey him as you have obeyed me, and let him stand in my place. To Sviatoslav — Chernihiv; to Vsevolod — Pereiaslav; to Viacheslav — Smolensk.” And so he divided the towns, commanding them not to step over their brother's boundary, nor to drive him out, saying to Iziaslav: “If anyone wants to wrong his brother, you must help the one who is being wronged.” And so he gave his sons instructions to live in love. While he was sick and had come to Vyshhorod, he fell very ill. Iziaslav was then ruling in Turov, and Sviatoslav in Volodymyr, and Vsevolod was with his father, for his father loved him above all his brothers and kept him at his side.

Yaroslav's life came to its end, and he gave up his soul on the 20th day of February, on the Saturday of the first week of Lent, on the day of St. Theodore. Vsevolod prepared his father's body, laid it on a sledge, and they carried it to Kyiv, the priests singing the hymns as is customary, and the people wept for him. They brought him and laid him in a marble coffin in the church of St. Sophia. Vsevolod and all the people wept for him. Yaroslav lived 76 years in all.

The beginning of the reign of Iziaslav in Kyiv. In the year 6563, Iziaslav came and sat in Kyiv, and Sviatoslav in Chernihiv, and Vsevolod in Pereiaslav, and Igor in Volodymyr, and Viacheslav in Smolensk. In that year Vsevolod went against the Torks, in winter, to Voin, and defeated the Torks. In that year Bolush came with the Cumans, and Vsevolod made peace with them, and they went back home.

In the year 6564.

In the year 6565. Viacheslav, Yaroslav's son, prince of Smolensk, died. They set Igor in Smolensk, moving him out of Volodymyr.

In the year 6566. Iziaslav defeated the Goliad.

In the year 6567. Iziaslav, and Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod brought their uncle Sudislav out of the prison, where he had sat 24 years, and made him swear an oath on the cross, and he became a monk.

In the year 6568. Igor, Yaroslav's son, died. In that same year Iziaslav, and Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod, and Vseslav gathered troops past counting and set out, on horseback and in boats, a countless host, against the Torks. When the Torks heard of this, they were afraid and fled, and are fleeing to this day, and they died as they fled, driven by the wrath of God — some from the cold, and others from hunger, and others from plague and the judgment of God. And so God saved the Christians from the pagans.

In the year 6569. The Cumans came for the first time to raid the Rus' land. Vsevolod went out against them on the 2nd day of February; they fought, defeated Vsevolod, and went away after their raiding. This was the first evil to the Rus' land from the pagan godless enemies. Their prince was Sokal.

In the year 6570.

In the year 6571. Sudislav, Yaroslav's brother, died, and they buried him in the church of St. George. In that year in Novgorod the Volkhov flowed backward for 5 days. This was a bad omen: in the 4th year the whole town burned down.

In the year 6572. Rostislav fled to Tmutorokan, son of Vladimir, grandson of Yaroslav; with him fled Porei and Vyshata, son of Ostromir, the commander of Novgorod. He came and drove Gleb out of Tmutorokan, and sat in his place himself.

In the year 6573. Sviatoslav went against Rostislav to Tmutorokan. Rostislav withdrew out of the town, not from fear of him, but because he did not want to take up arms against his own uncle. Sviatoslav came to Tmutorokan, set his son Gleb there again, and returned home. Rostislav came again and drove Gleb out, and Gleb went to his father, and Rostislav came and sat in Tmutorokan. In that same year Vseslav […] began a war.

At that time there was an omen in the west: a very great star with rays like blood, rising in the evening after the setting of the sun; it went on for 7 days. This showed that no good would come. After this came many civil wars, and the invasion of the pagans into the Rus' land; for this star, like blood, foretold the shedding of blood. At that time a child was thrown into the Setoml. Fishermen dragged this child out in a net; we gazed at it until evening, and then threw it back into the water. On its face were limbs of this kind, shameful to see, and the rest cannot be shown for shame. Before that time the sun had changed: it was not bright, but as if it were the moon. The ignorant say that it was being eaten.

These omens happen for no good; we learned this afterward. As of old, in the days of Antiochus, it happened in Jerusalem that suddenly, all through the town, for 40 days there appeared in the air horsemen racing about, in armor, clothed in gold, with companies seen on both sides, and weapons moving. This foretold the attack of Antiochus, the coming of an army on Jerusalem. After that, under the emperor Nero, in that same Jerusalem a star shone above the town in the shape of a spear: this foretold the attack of the army of the Romans. And again the same thing happened under the emperor Justinian: a star shone in the west, shooting out a ray, which they called a blistanitsa; and it shone for 20 days. After that the stars ran from evening till morning, so that everyone thought the stars were falling. And again the sun shone without rays. This foretold strife, and sickness; there was death among men.

Again, under the emperor Maurice, this happened: a woman gave birth to a child without eyes and without arms, and at its loins a fish's tail had grown onto it. And a dog was born with six legs. In Africa two children were born: one with four legs, and the other with two heads. After that, under Constantine the Iconoclast, son of Leo, there was a running of stars in the heavens; they tore loose toward the earth, so that those who saw it thought it was the end. Then the air was greatly disturbed. In Syria there was a great earthquake: the earth split for a length of three versts, and something marvelous came up out of the earth, speaking with a human voice and foretelling the coming of a foreign tongue; and so it happened: the Saracens attacked the land of Palestine.

Omens in the sky, or in the stars, or in the sun, or by birds, or by anything else, do not come for good; such omens come for evil — they foretell either an army, or famine, or death.

In the year 6574. While Rostislav sat in Tmutorokan and took tribute from the Kasogians and from other lands, the Greeks feared this and sent a katapan with deceit. He came to Rostislav and won his trust, and Rostislav honored him. Once, when Rostislav was drinking with his retinue, the katapan said: “Prince! I want to drink to you.” Rostislav said: “Drink.” He drank half the cup and gave the other half to the prince to drink, having pressed his finger into the cup — he had the poison of death under his nail — and gave it to the prince, condemning him to die within 8 days. When the prince had drunk, the katapan came to Korsun and announced that Rostislav would die on that very day, and so it came to pass. The people of Korsun stoned that katapan to death. Rostislav was a man good in war, of fine height and fair face, merciful to the poor. He died on the 3rd day of February, and so he was laid in the church of the Holy Mother of God.

In the year 6575. Vseslav, son of Briachislav of Polotsk, broke out in war and seized Novgorod. The three Yaroslavichi — Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod — gathered troops and went against Vseslav in the depth of winter. They came to Minsk, and the people of Minsk shut themselves in the town. The brothers took Minsk, cut down the men, carried the women and children off captive, and moved on to the Nemiza, and Vseslav came out against them. The two sides met on the Nemiza on the 3rd day of March. There was deep snow. They advanced against each other, and there was a fierce battle; many fell; Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod won, and Vseslav fled. After that, on the 10th day of June, Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod swore the honored cross to Vseslav, saying: “Come to us, and we will do you no harm.” He, trusting in the oath on the cross, crossed the Dnieper in boats, Iziaslav going on ahead of him into the tent. And so they seized Vseslav on the Rsha near Smolensk, having broken the oath on the cross. Iziaslav brought Vseslav to Kyiv and put him in the prison with his two sons.

In the year 6576. Foreign tribesmen came against the land of Rus' — Cumans, and many of them. Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod went out against them to the Alta. When night had come, they moved against each other. Because of our sins God let the pagans loose on us: the princes of Rus' fled, and the Cumans won.

God, in his anger, brings foreign peoples against a land, and when they have been crushed, they remember God. Civil war, though, comes from the devil's stirring. God does not want evil among men, but good; the devil rejoices in wicked murder and bloodshed, stirring up quarrels, envy, hatred of brothers, and slander. Whenever any land sins, God punishes it with death, or with famine, or by bringing pagans against it, or with drought, or with caterpillars, or with other punishments. But if we repent and stay where God commands us to be — for he says to us through the prophet: “Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping” — then if we do this we will be forgiven all our sins. But we keep turning back to evil, like a pig wallowing forever in the mire of its sins, and that is how we remain.

That is why the prophet also says to us: “I knew,” he says, “that you are stubborn, and your neck is an iron neck.” For that reason “I held back the rain from you; I rained on one field but not on another, and that field dried up. I struck you with scorching heat and with various plagues, and still you did not turn to me.” Therefore “I destroyed your vineyards and your fig trees, your fields and your groves,” says the Lord, “yet I could not wipe out your wickedness. I sent on you various diseases and grievous deaths,” and I sent my plague on their livestock, “and still you did not turn to me,” but you said: Let us stand strong. How long will you never get your fill of your wickedness? “You have turned aside from my way,” says the Lord, “and led many astray. For that reason the witness comes quickly against the wicked, against adulterers, against those who swear by my name in a lie, against those who hold back the wages of the hired worker, against those who wrong the orphan and the widow, and against those who twist judgment crooked.” Why did you not hold back from your sins? But you have turned aside from my laws and have not kept them. “Turn to me, and I will turn to you,” says the Lord. “I will open for you the floodgates of heaven and turn my anger away from you, until everything yields in plenty to you and your vineyards and fields do not fail. But you have thrown your words against me, saying: It is empty to serve God.”

“So these people honor me with their lips, while their heart stands far from me,” says the Lord. That is why we ask and do not receive. “For it will be,” he says, “when you call on me, I will not hear you.” The wicked will seek me and not find me, for they were not willing to walk in my ways. And so the sky shuts; in one place it opens for evil, pouring hail instead of rain; in another it bruises the fruit with frost and scorches the earth with heat, because of our sins. But if we repent of our wickedness, then “like a father to his children he will grant us every request, and send us the early rain and the late rain. Your threshing floors will fill with wheat, and your vats will overflow with wine and oil. I will pay you back for the years the locust and the grub and the caterpillar ate — my great army, which I sent against you,” says the Lord of hosts.

Hearing this, let us turn from evil to good. Seek justice, rescue the wronged, come to repentance, not paying back evil for evil or slander for slander, but clinging in love to the Lord our God with fasting and weeping, washing away every transgression with tears — not being called Christians in word while living like pagans. Do we not live like pagans, believing in omens of what we meet? If someone meets a monk, or a lone boar, or a pig, he turns back — is this not pagan? People keep this superstition by the devil's teaching. Others believe in sneezes, which happen for the health of the head. With these tricks and other customs the devil deceives us, luring us from God by every kind of deceit: with trumpets, with jesters, with gusli, and with the games of the rusalki. We see the gaming grounds trampled flat, and crowds of people on them, shoving one another, putting on shows — a devil-conceived affair — while the churches stand empty. When the hour of prayer comes, few of them are found in church.

That is why we receive every punishment from God, the invasion of enemies; by God's command we receive punishment for our sins. And now let us return to what lies before us.

When Iziaslav came with Vsevolod to Kyiv, and Sviatoslav to Chernihiv, the people of Kyiv fled into Kyiv. They held an assembly at the marketplace and resolved, sending word to the prince: “See, the Cumans have spread out over the land. Give, prince, weapons and horses, and we will fight them again.” Iziaslav did not listen to this. The people began to speak against the voivode Kosniachko, and went from the assembly […] up the hill. They came to Kosniachko's court and did not find him. They stood at Briachislav's court and said: “Let us go and pull the retainers out of the cellar.” They split in two: half went to the cellar, and half went along the Bridge, and these went to the prince's court. Iziaslav was sitting on the upper porch with his retinue. The people stood below and began to argue with the prince, who looked out through the little window, while his retinue stood beside him. Tuky, Chudin's brother, said to Iziaslav: “Do you see, prince, the people have grown unruly? Send men to guard Vseslav.” While he was speaking, the other half of the people came from the cellar, having opened it. The retinue said to the prince: “This is evil. Send word to Vseslav: let them call him to the little window and run him through with a sword.” The prince did not listen. The people shouted and went to Vseslav's pit. Seeing this, Iziaslav fled from the court with Vsevolod. The people hacked Vseslav out of the pit on September 15 and set him in the middle of the prince's court. They plundered the prince's court — countless gold and silver, and kunas and furs. Iziaslav fled to Poland.

After this the Cumans went raiding through the land of Rus'. Sviatoslav was in Chernihiv, and the Cumans raided around Chernihiv. Sviatoslav gathered a few retinues and went out against them toward Snovsk. The Cumans saw them coming and drew up against them. Sviatoslav saw how many they were and said to his retinue: “Let us charge; there is nowhere left for us to go.” They struck their horses forward, and Sviatoslav with his 3,000 defeated 12,000 Cumans. He cut them down there, others drowned in the Snov, and they took their prince alive on November 1. Sviatoslav returned in victory to his city, Chernihiv.

Vseslav now sat in Kyiv. Here God showed the power of the cross: Iziaslav had kissed the cross and then seized him; therefore God brought the pagans, while the honored cross openly rescued this man. On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross Vseslav […] sighed and said: “O honored cross! Since I believed in you, deliver me from this pit.” God showed the power of the cross as a sign for the land of Rus', so that no one may break the honored cross after kissing it. If anyone breaks it, he receives punishment here, and in the age to come eternal punishment. For great is the power of the cross: by the cross the powers of the demons are defeated; by the cross the Lord helps princes in battle; faithful men, guarded by the cross, defeat their hostile enemies; the cross quickly delivers from trouble those who call on it with faith. Demons fear nothing […] except the cross. If a demon sends an apparition, mark your face with the cross, and the demons are driven away. Vseslav sat in Kyiv for 7 months.

In the year 6577. Iziaslav marched with Boleslav against Vseslav, and Vseslav marched against them. Vseslav came to Bilhorod, and at night he slipped away unseen by the people of Kyiv and fled from Bilhorod to Polotsk. In the morning the people saw that the prince had fled and returned to Kyiv. They held an assembly and sent to Sviatoslav and Vsevolod, saying: “We have done evil: we drove out our own prince, and now he is bringing the Polish land against us. Go into your father's city. If you do not want to, then we have no choice: we will burn our city and […] go to the Greek land.” Sviatoslav said to them: “We will send to our brother. If he comes against you with the Poles and destroys you, we will stand against him in war and will not let him destroy our father's city. If he wants peace, let him come with a small retinue.” And the two comforted the people of Kyiv.

Sviatoslav and Vsevolod sent to Iziaslav, saying: “Vseslav has fled from you. Do not lead the Poles to Kyiv; there is no one standing against you. If you want to come in anger and destroy the city, know this: we grieve for our father's throne.” Hearing this, Iziaslav left the Poles and went on with Boleslav, taking only a few Poles with him. He sent his son Mstislav ahead to Kyiv. Mstislav came and cut down the people of Kyiv who had hacked Vseslav out, 70 men in all; he blinded others; and he put others to death without guilt and without any inquiry. As Iziaslav came toward the city, the people came out to meet him with bows and received their prince. Iziaslav sat on his throne on May 2. He sent the Poles out among the homes to be fed, and people killed the Poles in secret. Boleslav returned to his land.

Iziaslav moved the marketplace up onto the hill and drove Vseslav out of Polotsk. He seated his son Mstislav in Polotsk, and Mstislav soon died there. In his place he seated his brother Sviatopolk, while Vseslav was in flight.

In the year 6578. A son was born to Vsevolod, and they named him Rostislav. In that year the church of St. Michael was founded in Vsevolod's monastery at Vydubychi.

In the year 6579. The Cumans raided at Rastovets and at Neiatin. In the same year Vseslav drove Sviatopolk out of Polotsk. In the same year Yaropolk defeated Vseslav at Golotichesk. At that time a sorcerer came, deceived by a demon. He came to Kyiv and said: “Five gods appeared to me and said: Tell the people this: in five years the Dnieper will flow backward, and the lands will move to other places — the Greek land will stand where the land of Rus' stands, and the land of Rus' where the Greek land stands, and the other lands will change.” The ignorant listened to him, but the faithful laughed at him and said to him: “A demon is playing with you, to your ruin.” And so it happened to him: in one night he disappeared without a trace. Demons first trick a man and lead him into evil, and then, mocking him, they hurl him into the pit of death, having taught him to speak […]; this we call the demon's prompting and doing.

Once there was a famine in the region of Rostov, and two sorcerers rose up from Yaroslavl, saying: “We know who holds the plenty.” They went along the Volga, and wherever they came to a trading post, they named the leading women there, saying: “This one holds the grain, this one the honey, this one the fish, and this one the furs.” People brought their sisters, their mothers, and their wives to them. The two, in a trance of delusion, cut the women open behind the shoulder and drew out grain, or fish, or a squirrel, and they killed […] many women and took their property for themselves. They came to Beloozero, and they had 300 other men with them. At that time it happened that Jan, son of Vyshata, was coming from Sviatoslav, collecting tribute. The people of Beloozero told him that two sorcerers had killed many women along the Volga and the Sheksna and had come here. Jan found out whose peasants the two were and learned that they were his own prince's. He sent to the men who were around them and said: “Hand over those two sorcerers here, for they are my prince's peasants.” They did not obey him.

Jan went himself without weapons, and his retainers said to him: “Do not go without weapons; they will shame you.” He ordered the retainers to take weapons. There were 12 retainers with him, and he went to them at the forest. The two stood, drawn up against them. As Jan walked with his small axe, three men stepped out from the others and came to Jan, saying to him: “Look, you are walking to your death. Do not go.” He ordered his men to strike them and went on toward the rest. They rushed at them; one missed Jan with his axe. Jan turned his axe and struck with the butt of it, and ordered the retainers to cut them down. The two fled into the forest, and there they killed Jan's priest. Jan went into the town, to the people of Beloozero, and said to them: “If you do not seize these two sorcerers, I will not leave you for a year.” The people of Beloozero went, seized them, and brought them to him. He said to them: “Why did you destroy so many people?” They said: “These women hold the plenty. If we destroy them, killing them all, there will be plenty. If you wish, we will pull grain out in front of you, or fish, or something else.”

Jan said: “You are lying, truly. God made man from the earth, put together with bones and sinews and formed from blood; and in himself he has nothing and knows nothing. God alone knows.” The two said: “We two know how man was made.” He said: “How?” They said: “God washed in a bathhouse, sweated, wiped himself with a rag, and threw it down from heaven to earth. Then Satan argued with God over which of them would make man out of it. The devil made man, and God put the soul into him. That is why, when a man dies, his body goes into the earth and his soul goes to God.” Jan said to them: “Truly the devil has deceived you. In which god do you believe?” They said: “In the Antichrist.” He said to them: “Where is he, then?” They said: “He sits in the abyss.” Jan said to them: “What kind of god is one who sits in the abyss? That is a demon. But God sits in the heavens and on his throne, glorified by the angels, who stand before him in fear, unable to look on him. And this one you call the Antichrist was cast down from among the angels for his pride; he was thrown from heaven and is in the abyss, just as you say, waiting for the time when God comes from heaven, seizes this Antichrist, binds him with chains, and puts him in eternal fire with his servants and with those who believe in him. But you will receive torment here from me, and after death — there.”

The two said: “Our gods tell us: you can do nothing to us.” He said to them: “Your gods are lying to you.” They said: “We will have to stand before Sviatoslav, and you can do nothing to us.” Jan ordered them beaten and their beards torn out. While they were being beaten and their beards were being plucked out with pincers, Jan said to them: “What do your gods tell you?” They said: “We are to stand before Sviatoslav.” Jan ordered gags put into their mouths and had them tied to the boat's crossbars, and had them sent ahead of him in the boat, while he followed behind. They stopped at the mouth of the Sheksna, and Jan said to them: “What do your gods tell you?” They said: “This is what the gods tell us: we will not escape from you alive.” Jan said to them: “Then your gods are telling you the truth.” They said: “If you let us go, much good will come to you; if you kill us, you will bring much sorrow and evil on yourself.” He said to them: “If I let you go, evil will come to me from God. If I kill you, the reward will be mine from God.”

Jan said to the boatmen: “Has any of you had a kinsman killed by these two?” They said: “My mother; another's sister; another's kinsman.” He said to them: “Avenge your own.” They took them, killed them […], and hanged them on a tree; they received God's vengeance, and justly. As Jan was going home, on the second night a bear climbed in, bit the sorcerers, and ate them. And so the two perished by the devil's teaching — they divined for others and knew things, but did not know their own ruin. If they had known, they would not have come to the place where they were to be captured. And if they were to be captured, why did they say, “We will not die,” while he was intending to kill them? But this is demonic teaching. Demons do not know a man's thoughts; they put a thought into a man, but they do not know secrets. God alone knows man's thoughts. Demons know nothing, for they are weak and foul to look at.

Let us now tell about their appearance and their delusion. In those times and in those years it happened that a certain man of Novgorod came into the Chud land. He came to a sorcerer, wanting divination from him. The sorcerer began, according to his custom, to summon demons into his hut. The Novgorodian sat at the threshold of the hut, off to the side, while the sorcerer lay in a trance, and a demon rushed at him. The sorcerer got up and said to the Novgorodian: “Our gods dare not come in. You have something on you that they fear.” He remembered the cross he had on him; he went out and hung it outside that hut. The sorcerer began again to summon the demons. The demons rushed in and told him why the Novgorodian had come. Then the Novgorodian asked him: “Why do they fear what he wears on himself — the cross?” The sorcerer said: “That is the sign of the heavenly God, and our gods fear it.” The Novgorodian said: “Then what are your gods like? Where do they live?” The sorcerer said: “Our gods live in the abysses. They are black in form, winged, with tails. They also climb up under the sky and listen to your gods. Your gods are in heaven. If one of your people dies, he is carried up to heaven; if one of ours dies, he is carried to our gods, into the abyss.” As sinners are in hell, waiting for eternal torment, so the righteous are settled in the heavenly […] dwelling with the angels.

Such is the demons' power, their charm, and their weakness. That is how they deceive people: they make them speak visions, appearing to them. To those whose faith is not yet firm they appear in sleep, to others in waking visions, and so they practice sorcery by the devil's teaching. Demonic sorcery happens above all through women: from the beginning the demon deceived the woman, and the woman the man. So in these generations many women practice sorcery with charms and poison and other demonic tricks. But faithless men too are deceived by demons. For example, in the first generation, in the time of the apostles, there was Simon the sorcerer, who did things by magic: he made a dog speak with a human voice, and he himself changed, now old, now young, and he changed others into other forms by illusion. Jannes and Jambres did the same: by magic they worked wonders against Moses, but soon they could not prevail. And Cynops worked by demonic illusion, so that he even walked on water and performed other illusions, deceived by demons, to his own ruin and the ruin of others.

So it was that a sorcerer arose in Novgorod in the time of Gleb. He spoke to the people and made himself out to be like a god, and he deceived many — almost the whole city — for he said: “I know everything.” He blasphemed the Christian faith and said: “I will walk across the Volkhov in front of everyone.” There was an uprising in the city. All believed in him and wanted to defeat the bishop. The bishop took the cross, put on his vestments, stood, and said: “Whoever wants to believe the sorcerer, let him follow him. Whoever believes in the cross, let him go to the cross.” They split in two: Prince Gleb and his retinue stood by the bishop, and all the people went after the sorcerer. There was a very great uprising. Gleb took an axe under his cloak, came to the sorcerer, and said to him: “Do you know what will happen tomorrow morning, and what by evening?” He said: “I know everything.” Gleb said: “Then do you know what will happen to you today?” He said: “I will work great wonders.” Gleb drew the axe out and split him, and he fell dead, and the people scattered. He perished in body and soul, having given himself over to the devil.

In the year 6580 they brought in the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. The sons of Yaroslav gathered together: Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod. The metropolitan was then George; also Peter, bishop of Pereiaslav; Michael of Yuriev; Theodosius, abbot of the Caves; Sophronius, abbot of St. Michael; German, abbot of the Holy Savior; Nicholas, abbot of Pereiaslav; and all the other abbots. They made a bright feast and transferred them into the new church that Iziaslav built, which still stands […] now. First they took Boris in his wooden coffin: Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod took him on their shoulders and carried him, with monks going ahead holding candles in their hands, after them deacons with lamps, then priests, then bishops with the metropolitan, and behind them those carrying the coffin. When they brought him into the new church and opened the coffin, the church filled with fragrance, a sweet smell; seeing this, they glorified God. Amazement seized the metropolitan, for he had not firmly believed in them; he fell to the ground and asked forgiveness. They kissed his relics and placed him in a stone coffin. Then they took Gleb in his stone coffin, set it on a sledge, took hold of the shaft, and drew it. When they came to the doors, the coffin stood still and would not go. They ordered the people to cry out “Lord, have mercy,” and it moved. They laid him in place on May 20. After singing the liturgy, these brothers all dined together, each with his own boyars, and with great love. At that time Chudin held Vyshhorod, and Lazar held the church. After this they all went their separate ways.

In the year 6581, the devil stirred up strife among these brothers, the sons of Yaroslav. When the quarrel arose between them, Sviatoslav and Vsevolod joined together against Iziaslav, and Iziaslav left Kyiv. Sviatoslav and Vsevolod entered Kyiv on March 22 and sat on the seat at Berestovo, transgressing their father's command. Sviatoslav started his brother's expulsion, wanting greater power. He tricked Vsevolod, saying: “Iziaslav is making an alliance with Vseslav, planning against us two; if we do not strike first, he will drive us out.” And so he whetted Vsevolod against Iziaslav. Iziaslav went to Poland with much property and with his wife, trusting in his great wealth, and saying: “With this I will hire troops.” The Poles took it from him and showed him the way out. Sviatoslav sat in Kyiv, having driven out his brother, transgressing his father's command — and God's even more. For great is the sin of transgressing one's father's command: at the very first the sons of Ham crossed into the land of Seth, and after 400 years they received vengeance from God; for from the tribe of Seth come the Hebrews, who killed the Canaanite tribe and took back their own lot and their own land. And again Esau transgressed his father's command and came to murder. It is not good to cross another's boundary.

In that same year the Caves church was founded by Prince Sviatoslav, son of Yaroslav, by Abbot Theodosius, and by Bishop Michael, while Metropolitan George was then in the Greek lands and Sviatoslav sat in Kyiv.

In the year 6582. Theodosius, the abbot of the Caves Monastery, died. Let us tell a little about his falling asleep. Theodosius had a custom. When the fasting season was coming, on the Sunday of butter week, the last Sunday before the fast, in the evening, he would kiss the brothers as usual and teach them how to spend the fasting time in prayers by night and by day, and how to guard against impure thoughts and the seed the demons sow. “The demons,” he said, “sow thoughts in monks, evil desires, and set their minds on fire; and so their prayers are spoiled. When thoughts like these come, fight them off […] with the sign of the cross, saying: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. Amen.’ And with this keep restraint from too much food; with much eating and measureless drinking, evil thoughts grow, and when the thoughts have grown, sin is done.” “So,” he said, “resist the demons' work and their cunning. Guard against laziness and too much sleep. Be alert for the church singing, for the traditions of the fathers, and for the reading of books. More than that, a monk should keep the psalm of David in his mouth — with it he drives out the despair the demons bring. Above everything, keep love within yourself for the juniors, and obedience and submission to the seniors, […] and let the seniors have […] love and instruction for the juniors. Be a model yourself by restraint and sleepless watching, and by humble walking, and so teach the juniors too, comfort them, and so spend the fast.”

He would speak like this: “God has given us these 40 days for the cleansing of the soul. This is the tithe given to God from the year: from one year to the next there are 365 days, and of those days the tenth day is to be given back to God — the tithe — and that is this forty-day fast. In those days the soul, cleansed, keeps the bright feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, rejoicing in God. The fasting season cleanses a person's mind. Fasting was shown from the very beginning: Adam was forbidden to taste from one single tree. Moses fasted for 40 days and was found worthy to receive the law on Mount Sinai and to see the glory of God. Samuel's mother bore Samuel through fasting. The Ninevites fasted and escaped God's anger. Daniel fasted and was granted a great vision. Elijah fasted and was, as it were, taken up to heaven, to food that does not decay. The three youths fasted and put out the power of the fire. The Lord fasted for 40 days and showed us the fasting season.”

“By fasting the apostles rooted out the teaching of the demons. By fasting our fathers appeared like lights in the world, and they shine even after death, having shown great labors and self-restraint — such as the great Anthony, and Euthymius, and Sabbas, and the other fathers, whom we too should imitate, brothers.” Having taught the brothers like this and kissed each one by name, he would go out of the monastery, taking a few small cakes. He would go into the cave, shut the door of the cave and cover it with earth, and speak to no one. If some necessary matter arose, he would talk a little through the little window on Saturday or Sunday; on the other days he stayed in fasting and prayer and held himself to strict restraint. He would come to the monastery on Friday, the eve of Lazarus Saturday; for on that day the forty-day fast ends. It begins on the first Monday, when Theodore's week has come, and it ends on Lazarus Friday. Holy Week is appointed for fasting because of the Lord's Passion.

Theodosius came as usual, kissed the brothers, and kept Palm Sunday with them. When the great day of the Resurrection came and he had kept it brightly as usual, he fell ill. He was sick for 5 days; then, when evening came, he ordered them to carry him out into the yard. The brothers took him on a sledge and set him in front of the church. He ordered all the brothers to gather. The brothers struck the board that calls them, and all came together. He said to them: “My brothers, my fathers, my children! See, I am leaving you. The Lord made it clear to me, during the fast, while I was in the cave, that I am to depart from this world. Whom do you want set over yourselves as abbot? Then I can give him my blessing.” They said to him: “You are a father to all of us. Whomever you yourself choose will be father and abbot to us, and we will obey him as we obey you.” Our father Theodosius said: “Go aside from me and name the one you want, except two brothers, Nicholas and Ignatius; among the rest, whomever you want, from the oldest to the youngest.” They obeyed him, stepped a little aside toward the church, took counsel, and sent two brothers with this message: “Whomever God and your honored prayer chooses, whomever pleases you — name him.”

Theodosius said to them: “If you want to receive an abbot from me, I will do it for you — but not by my own will; by God's ordering.” And he named Yakov the priest for them. The brothers were not pleased, saying, “He did not take his vows here”; for Yakov had come from the Alta with his brother Paul. The brothers began to ask for Stephen, the choir leader, who was then Theodosius's pupil, saying, “This one grew up under your hand and […] served you; give us him now.” Theodosius said to them: “See, by God's command I had named Yakov for you; but this you want to do by your own will.” He yielded to them and gave them Stephen to be their abbot. He blessed Stephen and said to him: “Child! See, I hand the monastery over to you. Guard it with care. Keep the order of the services as I arranged it. Do not change the monastery's traditions and rules, but do everything according to the law and the order of the monastery.” Then the brothers took him and carried him to his cell and laid him on his bed. When the sixth day came, and he was very ill, Sviatoslav came to him with his son Gleb.

While the two sat with him, Theodosius said to the prince: “See, I am leaving this world. I hand the monastery over to you for safekeeping, in case there is any disorder in it. I entrust the abbacy to Stephen; do not let him be wronged.” The prince kissed him, promised to look after the monastery, and went away. When the seventh day came and Theodosius was failing, he called Stephen and the brothers and began to speak to them like this: “If, after my departure from this world, I have pleased God and God has received me, then after I am gone the monastery will begin to prosper and grow; then know that God has received me. But if after my life the monastery begins to fall short […] the monks and the needs of the monastery, then know that I have not pleased God.” While he said this, the brothers wept and said: “Father! Pray the Lord for us. We know that God will not scorn your labor.” The brothers sat with him that whole night. When the eighth day came — the second Saturday after Easter, at the 2nd hour of the day — he gave his soul into God's hands, on the 3rd day of the month of May, in the 11th indiction. And the brothers wept for him.

Theodosius had commanded the brothers to lay him in the cave, where he had shown so many labors, saying: “Bury my body at night.” That is what they did. When evening came, all the brothers took his body, carried it into the cave with songs and candles, and laid it there with honor, to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.

While Stephen held the monastery and the blessed flock that Theodosius had gathered… In this way the monks shone like lights in the land of Rus': some were fasters, others kept vigils, others made kneeling bows, others ate only every other day or every third day; some ate bread with water, others boiled greens, and others raw food. They lived in love. The juniors submitted to the seniors, not daring to speak in their presence, everything done with submission and great obedience. And the seniors in turn loved the juniors; they instructed and comforted them like beloved children. If any brother fell into some sin, they comforted him, and out of great love they divided one brother's penance among 3 or 4. Such was the love in that brotherhood, and such its great restraint. If a brother went out of the monastery, all the brothers grieved greatly over it and sent for him. They brought the brother back to the monastery; then they all bowed to the abbot, begged the abbot, and received the brother into the monastery with joy. Such lovers of God and men of restraint they were. From among them I will name a few remarkable men.

The first was Damian the priest. He was a faster and a man of restraint: to the end of his life he ate nothing but bread and water. If anyone brought a sick child, seized by whatever illness, they brought him to the monastery; and if a grown man, seized by whatever illness, came to the monastery to the blessed Theodosius, Theodosius would order this Damian to say a prayer over the sick person. Damian said the prayer at once and anointed him with holy oil, and at once those who came to him were healed. Once he fell ill himself, and as he lay in his sickness close to his end, an angel came to him in Theodosius's form, granting him the kingdom of heaven for his labors. Then Theodosius came with the brothers and sat with him. As Damian was failing, he looked at the abbot and said: “Do not forget, abbot, what you promised me last night.” The great Theodosius understood that he had seen a vision and said to him: “Brother Damian, what I promised you, that you will have.” Damian closed his eyes and gave up his spirit into God's hands. The abbot and the brothers buried his body.

So too another brother, named Jeremiah, who remembered the baptism of the land of Rus'. God had given him a gift: he preached, and he saw things to come. If he saw someone lost in a thought, he rebuked him in private and taught him to guard against the devil. If some brother was thinking of leaving the monastery, Jeremiah saw it, came to him, exposed his thought, and comforted the brother. And whatever he told someone — good or bad — the elder's word came true.

There was also another brother, named Matthew; he could see hidden things. Once, while he stood in the church in his place, he raised his eyes, looked over the brothers standing and singing on both sides, and saw a demon going around in the shape of a Pole in a cloak, carrying in the fold of the cloak a flower that is called a lepek. Going along beside the brothers, he took the flower from his bosom and threw it at whomever he pleased. If the flower stuck to one of the singing brothers, that one would stand only a short time; his mind would weaken; he would commit some offense or other, walk out of the church, go to his cell, sleep, and not return to the church until the singing was over. But if the demon threw the flower at another and it did not stick to him, that one stood firm in his singing until they finished matins, and only then went to his cell. Seeing this, the elder told it to his brothers. And again this elder saw the following. As usual, after he had stood through the night office and the brothers had finished singing matins before dawn, they went off to their cells; this elder left the church last.

Once, as he was leaving, he sat down to rest under the board, for his cell was far from the church, and he saw what looked like a troop going out of the gates. He raised his eyes and saw one sitting on a pig and others running around it. The elder said to them: “Where are you going?” And the demon sitting on the pig said: “After Michael Tolbokovich.” The elder crossed himself with the sign of the cross and went to his cell. Then it grew light. The elder understood and said to his cell attendant: “Go and ask whether Michael is in his cell.” They answered him: “He jumped over the fence after matins.” The elder told this vision to the abbot and all the brothers. By this time Theodosius had died; Stephen had become abbot, and after Stephen, Nikon — and this elder was still alive then. Once, while he stood at matins, he raised his eyes, wanting to see Abbot Nikon, and saw a donkey standing in the abbot's place. He understood that the abbot had not gotten up.

This elder also saw many other visions of things to come, and he fell asleep in good old age in this monastery.

There was also another monk, named Isaac. While he still lived in the world he was rich; he was a merchant, a native of Toropets. He resolved to become a monk, gave away his property to the needy and to monasteries, went to the great Anthony in the cave, and begged him to make him a monk. Anthony received him, put the monastic robes on him, and gave him the name Isaac; his name in the world had been Chern. This Isaac took up a harsh way of life. He clothed himself in a hair shirt. He had a goat bought, made the goatskin into a bag, and pulled it on over the hair shirt, and the raw skin dried on him. He shut himself in the cave, in one of its passages, in a small cell about 4 cubits in size, and there he prayed to God without ceasing, day and night, with tears. His food was a single communion loaf, and that only every other day, and he drank water in measured amounts. The great Anthony brought it and handed it to him through a little window, just big enough for a hand to fit; that is how he took his food. He did this for 7 years, never coming out into the light, never lying on his side, but sitting and taking only a little sleep.

Once, as usual, when evening came, he began to make bows, singing psalms until midnight, and as he grew tired he would sit on his seat. Once he was sitting as usual and the candle went out. Suddenly a light shone in the cave, bright as the sun, so bright that it seemed to draw the sight out of a man. Two beautiful youths came toward him; their faces shone like the sun, and they said to him: “Isaac! We are angels, and see, Christ is coming to you with the angels.” Isaac stood up and saw the crowd, their faces brighter than the sun, and one in their midst, and the brightness from his face was greater than from all the rest. The two said to him: “Isaac, that is Christ. Fall down and worship him.” He did not recognize the demons' trick; he did not remember to cross himself. He stepped forward and bowed as if to Christ — to the demons' work. The demons shouted and said: “You are ours now, Isaac.” They led him into his cell and sat him down, and began to sit around him — the cell and the cave passage were full. Then one of the demons, the one pretending to be Christ, said: “Take up pipes and drums and strings, and play, so that our Isaac will dance.”

They struck up the pipes and the strings and the drums and played before him. They wore him out and left him barely alive, and went away, having mocked him.

When morning came and the time arrived to give him his bread, Anthony came to the window as usual and said: “Give me your blessing, Father Isaac!” There was no voice, no answer. Anthony spoke many times, and there was no reply. Anthony said: “He must have died.” He sent to the monastery for Theodosius and the brothers. They dug open the entrance, which had been closed up, came in, and took him, thinking he was dead. They carried him out and laid him in front of the cave. Then they saw that he was alive. Abbot Theodosius said: “This is the demons' doing.” They laid him on a bed, and Anthony cared for him. At that same time it happened that Iziaslav came back from the Poles, and Iziaslav began to be angry with Anthony over Vseslav. Sviatoslav sent by night and had Anthony brought to Chernihiv. Anthony came to Chernihiv and came to love the Boldino hill; he dug a cave and settled there. The monastery of the Holy Mother of God on the Boldino hills stands to this day.

Theodosius learned that Anthony had gone to Chernihiv. He went with the brothers, took Isaac, and brought him to his own cell, and cared for him there. Isaac was weak in body and mind: he could not turn onto his other side, or stand, or sit. He lay on one side, was often soaked in his own urine, and worms bred under his thigh. Theodosius washed him with his own hands and cleaned him up, and did this for 2 years. It was astonishing and marvelous: lying there for two years, he tasted no bread, no water, no food of any kind, no fruit, and spoke no word with his tongue; he lay mute and deaf for 2 years. Theodosius prayed to God for him and said prayers over him night and day, until in the 3rd year he spoke and heard, and began to rise to his feet like a baby, and began to walk. He did not care to go to church; they had to pull him there, and little by little they taught him. After that he learned to go to the refectory too. They sat him apart from the brothers and put bread before him, and he would not take it unless they put it into his hands. Theodosius said: “Put the bread before him and do not put it into his hands; let him eat by himself.” For a week he did not care to eat; then, little by little, looking around, he began to eat bread. That is how he learned to eat, and that is how Theodosius saved him from the devil's snare and deceit.

Isaac then took on a bold heart and a harsh discipline. After Theodosius died and Stephen took his place, Isaac said: “See, devil, you have deceived me once already, with me sitting in one place. Now I will not shut myself in the cave; I will defeat you by living in the monastery.” He clothed himself in a hair shirt, and over the hair shirt a coat of rough undyed wool, and began to play the fool. He began to help the cooks and to cook for the brothers. He went to matins before everyone and stood firm and unmoving. When winter came with bitter frosts, he stood in thin shoes, in soft leather shoes, in ones worn through, so that his feet froze to the stone; he did not move his feet until they finished matins. After matins he went to the kitchen and got the fire, the water, and the wood ready, and then the other cooks among the brothers came in. One of the cooks was also named Isaac. He said with a little smile: “Isaac! There sits a black raven. Go and catch it.”

He bowed to the ground to him, went, caught the raven, and brought it to him in front of all the cooks. They were astounded and told the abbot and the brothers. The brothers began to honor him. Not wanting human glory, he began to play the fool harder and to make trouble — now for the abbot, now for the brothers, now for worldly people — and some gave him wounds. He began to go about the world, still playing the fool. Then he settled in the cave where he had lived before — Anthony had already died by then. He gathered boys around himself and put monastic robes on them, and for this he took beatings, now from Abbot Nikon, now from the children's parents. He endured all of it: he took the wounds and the nakedness and the cold, day and night. Once at night he lit the furnace in the stoke room by the cave. When the furnace blazed up — it had a crack in it — the flame began to scorch his legs. He had nothing to stop it up with. He stepped onto the flame with his bare feet and stood on the fire until the furnace burned out, and then he stepped down.

They told many other things about him, and of other things we were eyewitnesses ourselves. So he won the victory over the demonic powers: he set no more store by their terrors and their apparitions than by a fly. He said to them: “You deceived me at first, because I did not know your tricks and your malice. But now I have the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, and the prayer of our father Theodosius. I set my hope on Christ, and I will defeat you.” Many times the demons did him mischief and said to him […]: “You are ours; you bowed down to our leader and to us.” He said to them: “Your leader is the antichrist, and you are demons.” He crossed himself, and they vanished. At times they came to him again at night and tried to frighten him, in visions: as if a great crowd stood there with hoes and with spades, saying: “Let us dig up this cave and bury him here.” Others said: “Run, Isaac, they want to bury you.”

He said to them: “If you were men, you would come by day. You are darkness, and you walk in darkness.” He signed himself with the cross, and they vanished. At other times they terrified him in the shape of a bear, or of a fierce beast, or of an ox; or snakes crawled toward him, or frogs and mice and every kind of creeping thing. They could do nothing to him. They said to him: “Isaac, you have defeated us.” He said: “Just as you defeated me at first, in the image of Jesus Christ and of angels — though you were unworthy of that vision — now you show yourselves first in the shape of beasts and cattle, as snakes and creeping things, just as you yourselves are filth, evil to look at.” And at once the demons perished before him, and from then on the demons did him no harm. He himself used to tell of it: “This battle of mine went on for three years.” After that he began to live more strictly, keeping restraint, fasting, and vigil. And while he lived like this he ended his life. He fell ill in the cave; they carried him, sick, to the monastery, and by the eighth day he died in the Lord. Abbot John and the brothers prepared his body and buried it.

Such were the monks of Theodosius's monastery. They shine even after death, like lights, and they pray to God for the brothers here, for those who bring offerings to the monastery, and for the brothers in the world. In that monastery they live a virtuous life today as well, all in one rule together, in singing, in prayers, and in obediences, to the glory of almighty God, kept safe by Theodosius's prayers. To him be glory forever. Amen.

In the year 6583. The church of the Caves was begun above its foundation by the abbot Stephen. Theodosius had begun it from the foundation, and Stephen began the work on that foundation. The church was finished in the third year, on July 1.

In the same year envoys came from the Germans to Sviatoslav. Sviatoslav, wanting to boast, showed them his wealth. When they saw the countless mass of gold and silver and silks, they said: “This is nothing, for it lies dead. Warriors are better than this. Men can win even more than this.” In this way Hezekiah, king of the Jews, boasted to the envoys of the king of Assyria, and all his wealth was carried off to Babylon. So too, after his death, all his possessions were scattered to ruin.

In the year 6584. Vladimir, son of Vsevolod, and Oleg Sviatoslavich went to the aid of the Poles against the Czechs. In the same year Sviatoslav, son of Yaroslav, died on December 27 from the cutting of a tumor, and he was buried at the church of the Savior. Vsevolod then sat on his throne on January 1. In the same year a son, Mstislav, was born to Vladimir, grandson of Vsevolod.

In the year 6585. Iziaslav set out with the Poles, and Vsevolod moved against him. And while Vsevolod was … Boris sat in Chernihiv on May 4, and his reign lasted 8 days, and he fled to Tmutorokan, to Roman. Vsevolod went up against his brother Iziaslav to Volhynia and made peace, and when he came, Iziaslav sat in Kyiv on July 15, and Oleg, son of Sviatoslav, was with Vsevolod in Chernihiv.

In the year 6586. Oleg, son of Sviatoslav, fled from Vsevolod to Tmutorokan on April 10. In the same year Gleb, son of Sviatoslav, was killed in Zavolochie. Gleb was merciful to the poor and welcoming to strangers, eager for churches, ardent in faith and gentle, handsome to look at. His body was laid to rest in Chernihiv, behind the church of the Savior, on July 23. While Sviatopolk, son of Iziaslav, sat in his place in Novgorod, Yaropolk sat in Vyshhorod, and Vladimir sat in Smolensk, Oleg and Boris brought pagans against the land of Rus', and the two of them set out against Vsevolod with the Cumans. Vsevolod marched out against them to the Sozhitsa, and the Cumans defeated the Rus', and many were killed there: Ivan Zhiroslavich was killed there, and Tuky, brother of Chudin, and Porei, and many others, on August 25.

Oleg and Boris came to Chernihiv thinking they had won, having done great evil to the land of Rus' and shed Christian blood — blood that God will seek from their hand, an answer to give for the perished Christian souls. Vsevolod came to his brother Iziaslav at Kyiv; they kissed each other and sat down together. Vsevolod told him everything that had happened. And Iziaslav said to him: “Brother, do not grieve. You see how much evil has come upon me: first, did they not drive me out and plunder my property? And again, what wrong had I done? Did you two not drive me out, your own brother? And did I not wander through foreign lands, stripped of my property, though I had done no evil at all? And now, brother, do not grieve. If we two have a share in the land of Rus', it belongs to both of us; if we are deprived of it, it falls on both of us. I will lay down my head for you.” Having said this, he comforted Vsevolod and ordered the troops gathered, from the youngest to the oldest. And Iziaslav set out with his son Yaropolk, and Vsevolod with his son Vladimir.

And they marched on Chernihiv, and the people of Chernihiv shut themselves inside the town. Oleg and Boris were not in Chernihiv. Since the townspeople would not open the gates, they attacked the town. Vladimir attacked the eastern gates, by the Strizhen, and seized the gates, and they took the outer town and burned it with fire, while the people ran into the inner town. When Iziaslav and Vsevolod heard that Oleg and Boris were coming against them, they drew up in battle order and marched out of the town against Oleg. And Oleg said to Boris: “Let us not go against them; we cannot stand against four princes. Let us send a plea to our two uncles instead.” And Boris said to him: “You watch me: I am ready to face every one of them.” And he boasted greatly, not knowing that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and that the strong must not boast in their own strength. The two of them went forward, and when they met on the spot at Nezhatina field and the two sides closed, there was fierce slaughter. First they killed Boris, son of Viacheslav, who had boasted greatly.

While Iziaslav stood among the foot soldiers, a rider suddenly rode up alone and struck him with a spear behind the shoulder. And so Iziaslav, son of Yaroslav, was killed. As the battle went on, Oleg fled with a small retinue; he barely escaped and fled to Tmutorokan.

Prince Iziaslav was killed on October 3. They took his body, brought it by boat, and set it down opposite Gorodets, and the whole city of Kyiv came out to meet it. They lifted the body onto a sledge, and the priests and monks carried it with hymns and brought it into the city. The singing could not be heard for the loud weeping and wailing; the whole city of Kyiv wept for him. Yaropolk walked behind the body, weeping with his retinue: “Father, my father! How little of your life in this world was free of sorrow, receiving many afflictions from men and from your own brothers! Now you have perished not at a brother's hand: you laid down your head for your brother.” When they had brought him in, they laid his body in the church of the Holy Mother of God, placing it in a coffin of stone and marble. Iziaslav was a man handsome in appearance, tall in body, without malice in his nature, hating wrong and loving justice. There was no deceit in him and no cunning; he was simple of mind and did not repay evil for evil. Consider how much the people of Kyiv did to him: they drove him out and plundered his house, and he did not repay that evil.

But if anyone says: he cut down the men of Kyiv, the very men who had freed Vseslav from the log prison — he did not do that; his son did. Again, his own brothers drove him out, and he wandered through foreign lands. And when he sat again on his own throne, and Vsevolod came to him in defeat, he did not say to him: “Look how much I suffered at your hands.” He did not return evil for evil; he comforted him and said: “You, my brother, showed love to me when you led me back to my throne and named me older than yourself. I will not remember the former malice: you are my brother, and I am yours, and I will lay down my head for you” — and so it happened. He did not say to him: “How much evil you two did to me, and now this has come upon you.” He did not say: “That is not my concern.” He took his brother's sorrow on himself and showed great love, fulfilling the apostle's word: “Comfort those who grieve.” Truly, whatever sin he ever committed in this world will be set aside for him, because he laid down his head for his brother, not seeking a larger share or greater wealth, but moved by the wrong done to his brother.

Of such people the Lord also said: “that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Solomon said: “Brothers, be ready to help in trouble.” Love is above all things. As John says: “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” In this love is made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear brings torment. “He who fears is not yet made perfect in love. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. Whoever does not love his brother, whom he has seen — how can he love God, whom he has not seen? We have this commandment from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too.” In love everything is brought to fulfillment. Because of love, sins fall apart. Because of love the Lord came down to earth and was crucified for us sinners; taking our sins, he nailed them to the cross, and he gave us his cross as a help and for driving out demons. For love the martyrs shed their blood.

For love this prince also shed his own blood for his brother, fulfilling the Lord's commandment.

The beginning of Vsevolod's reign in Kyiv. Vsevolod sat in Kyiv on the throne of his father and of his brother, taking all the power of Rus' into his hands. He seated his son Vladimir in Chernihiv and Yaropolk in Volodymyr, adding Turov for him.

In the year 6587. Roman came with the Cumans to Voin. Vsevolod took his stand near Pereiaslav and made peace with the Cumans. Roman turned back, and while he was … the Cumans killed him on August 2. His bones still lie there to this very year; he was the son of Sviatoslav and grandson of Yaroslav. And the Khazars seized Oleg and banished him overseas to Constantinople. Vsevolod appointed Ratibor as his governor in Tmutorokan.

In the year 6588. The Torks of Pereiaslav rebelled against Rus'. Vsevolod sent his son Vladimir against them. Vladimir went and defeated the Torks.

In the year 6589. David Igorevich fled with Volodar Rostislavich on May 18. They came to Tmutorokan, seized Ratibor, and established themselves in Tmutorokan.

In the year 6590. In autumn a Cuman prince died.

In the year 6591. Oleg came from Constantinople to Tmutorokan; he seized David and Volodar Rostislavich and took his seat in Tmutorokan. He put to death the Khazars who had given counsel for the murder of his brother and of himself, but he let David and Volodar go free.

In the year 6592. Yaropolk came to Vsevolod for Easter. At that time the two Rostislavichi fled from Yaropolk; they came in, and then they drove Yaropolk out. Vsevolod sent his son Vladimir, who drove out the Rostislavichi and seated Yaropolk in Volodymyr. In the same year David seized Greek merchants at Oleshie and took all their goods. Vsevolod sent for him and brought him in, and gave him Dorogobuzh.

In the year 6593. Yaropolk was planning to march against Vsevolod, having listened to evil counselors. When Vsevolod learned this, he sent his son Vladimir against him. Yaropolk left his mother and his retinue in Lutsk and fled to the Poles himself. When Vladimir came to Lutsk, the people of Lutsk surrendered. Vladimir seated David in Volodymyr, in Yaropolk's place, and brought Yaropolk's mother and his wife and his retinue to Kyiv, taking his property.

In the year 6594. Vsevolod founded the church of St. Andrew while the venerable John was metropolitan, and he made a monastery at that church. In it his daughter took the veil while still a maiden; her name was Yanka. This Yanka gathered many nuns around her and lived with them according to the monastic rule.

In the year 6595. Yaropolk came back from the Poles and made peace with Vladimir, and Vladimir went back to Chernihiv, while Yaropolk settled in Volodymyr. After sitting there a few days, he set out for Zvenigorod. Before he reached the town, he was stabbed by the accursed Neradets, at the devil's prompting and through wicked men. While Prince Yaropolk lay on a sledge, Neradets stabbed him from his horse with a saber on November 22. Then Yaropolk raised himself, pulled the saber out of his own body, and said in a loud voice: “Ah, that enemy has destroyed me.” The accursed Neradets fled to Peremyshl, to Rurik. Yaropolk's attendants lifted him onto a horse in front of them — Radko, Voikin, and the other attendants — and carried him to Volodymyr, and from there to Kyiv. And the faithful Prince Vsevolod came out to meet him with his two sons, Vladimir and Rostislav, and all the boyars, and the blessed Metropolitan John, and the monks and the priests.

And all the people of Kyiv raised great weeping over him, and with psalms and hymns they escorted him to the monastery of St. Demetrius. Having prepared his body, they laid it with honor in the shrine at the church of the holy apostle Peter, which he himself had begun to build, on December 5. He had received many hardships: driven out by his brothers without guilt, wronged and plundered, and in the end he accepted a bitter death; but he was granted eternal life and rest. The blessed Prince Yaropolk was like this: meek, humble, loving his brothers and loving the poor. He gave a tenth of all his herds to the holy Mother of God, and a tenth of the grain every year, and he prayed to God constantly, saying: “Lord my God, Jesus Christ! Receive my prayer and grant me a death like the one you gave my brothers Boris and Gleb, at a stranger's hand, so that I may wash away all my sins with my own blood and be delivered from this empty world and from the enemy's net.”

The good God did not refuse him his request: he received those good things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and that have not entered the heart of man, which God prepared for those who love him. In the same year Vsevolod marched on Peremyshl.

In the year 6596. The church of St. Michael of Vsevolod's monastery was consecrated by Metropolitan John and by the bishops Luke and Isaiah, with Lazar holding the abbacy of that monastery at the time. In that year Sviatopolk went from Novgorod to Turov to take up his rule. In that year Nikon, abbot of the Caves, died. In the same year the Volga Bulgars took Murom.

In the year 6597. The church of the holy Mother of God of Theodosius's monastery, the Caves church, was consecrated by Metropolitan John, and by Luke, bishop of Bilhorod, and by Isaiah, bishop of Rostov, and by John, bishop of Chernihiv, and by Anthony, abbot of Yuriev, while the faithful Prince Vsevolod ruled the land of Rus', with his two children Vladimir and Rostislav, with Jan commanding the Kyiv thousand, and John holding the abbacy. In the same year Metropolitan John died. This John was a man skilled in books and learning, merciful to the poor and to widows, gracious to everyone, to rich and to poor alike, humble in mind, meek, and quiet, eloquent in the holy books, comforting the sorrowful; there was never such a man in Rus' before him, nor will there be one like him after him. In the same year Yanka, Vsevolod's daughter, of whom we spoke earlier, went to Constantinople.

In the year 6598. Yanka brought back Metropolitan John, a eunuch. When all the people saw him, they said: “Here a dead man has come.” He lived from one year to the next and died. This man was not learned in books; he was simple in mind and plain in speech. In the same year the church of St. Michael at Pereiaslav was consecrated by Ephrem, metropolitan of that church, who had built it, great as it was, and then made a great addition to it, adorning it with every kind of beauty, with church vessels. This Ephrem in those years raised many buildings: after finishing the church of St. Michael, he founded a church of St. Theodore on the gates, and a church of St. Andrew at the church by the gates, and a stone town, and a built stone bathhouse — such as had never existed in Rus'. And he adorned the town of Pereiaslav with church buildings and other buildings.

In the year 6599. The abbot and the monks took counsel and said: “It is not right that our father Theodosius should lie outside the monastery and outside his own church, for he was the one who founded the church and gathered the monks.” Having taken counsel, they ordered a place prepared where his relics could be laid. When the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God was three days away, the abbot ordered the digging to begin where the relics of our father Theodosius lay. By his command I, a sinner, was the first eyewitness, and this I will tell: I did not learn it by hearsay, but was myself the one who began the work. The abbot came to me and said to me: “Let us two go into the cave, to Theodosius.” I came with the abbot, unknown to anyone; we examined where to dig, and we marked out the spot to dig, away from the entrance. The abbot said to me: “You must tell no one […] of the brothers, so that no one knows of it; but take whomever you wish to help you.” I spent seven days getting ready the tools I would dig with.

On Tuesday evening, at dusk, I took two brothers with me and, unknown to anyone, came into the cave, sang the psalms, and began to dig. When I grew tired, I handed the work to the other brother, and we dug until midnight, laboring, but we could not dig through. I began to grieve: perhaps we were digging off to one side. I took the tool and began to dig hard with all my strength, while my friend rested in front of the cave, and he said to me: “They have struck the board.” And at that very moment I broke through onto the relics of Theodosius. He went on saying to me: “They have struck the board,” and I said: “I have already broken through.” When I broke through, terror seized me, and I began to cry: “Lord, have mercy!” At that same moment two brothers were sitting in the monastery, watching toward the cave for the moment when the abbot, keeping it secret, would bring the relics out in secret with companions. And when the board was struck, they saw three pillars like golden arcs; they stood looking, and the pillars came above the top of the church, where Theodosius was laid.

At that same time Stephen, who had become abbot in his place — he was by then a bishop — saw from his monastery, across the field, a great glow over the cave. Thinking that they were carrying Theodosius away, for it had been made known to him one day before, and grieving that they were transferring him without him, he mounted a horse and rode there quickly, taking with him Kliment, whom he had appointed abbot after himself. As the two rode along, they saw the great glow. When they came near, they saw many candles over the cave; they came to the cave and saw nothing, and went down inside the cave, where we were sitting by his relics. For when I broke through, I sent word to the abbot: “Come, let us take him.” The abbot came with two brothers. I dug the opening out fully and went in, and we saw his relics lying there: his body had not decayed, and the hair of his head was still held fast. Laying him on a cloak, they carried him out in front of the cave.

On the next day the bishops gathered: Ephrem of Pereiaslav, Stephen of Volodymyr, John of Chernihiv, Marin of Yuriev, and all the abbots from all the monasteries with their monks, and the faithful people came as well. They took up the relics of Theodosius with candles and incense, brought them, and laid them in the church that was his own, in the narthex on the right side, on August 14, on a Thursday, at the first hour of the day, in the fourteenth indiction, in the year …. And they kept the feast brightly that day.

Now I will tell a few things about how Theodosius's prophecy came true. While Theodosius held the abbacy in his lifetime and shepherded the flock entrusted to him by God — the monks — he did not care for these alone: he cared also for the souls of people in the world, how they might be saved, and most of all for his spiritual sons, comforting and instructing those who came to him, and also coming to their homes and giving them his blessing. Once he came to Jan's house, to Jan and his wife Maria — Theodosius loved them, because the two of them lived according to the Lord's commandment and lived in love. When he came to them, he taught them about alms for the poor, and about the kingdom of heaven, which the righteous will receive and sinners torment, and about the hour of death. And as he spoke to them about the laying of the body in the grave, Jan's wife said to him: “Who knows where they will lay me?” Theodosius said to her: “Truly, where I lie, there you will be laid too.”

And this came true. The abbot had died 18 years before; now it was fulfilled: in this year Jan's wife, whose name was Maria, died on August 16. The monks came, singing the customary hymns, brought her, and laid her at the church of the holy Mother of God, opposite Theodosius's grave, on the left side. Theodosius had been laid there on the 14th, and she on the 16th. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of our blessed father Theodosius, the good shepherd, who pastured the rational sheep without pretense, with meekness and with careful watch over them and with vigil, praying for the flock entrusted to him and for the Christian people and for the land of Rus'; who, after his departure, prays for the faithful people and for his disciples. They, as they look on your shrine, remember your teaching and your self-control and glorify God. I, a sinner, your servant and disciple, do not know how to praise you — your good life and your self-control.

But I will say a few words.

“Rejoice, our father and teacher Theodosius! Rejecting worldly entanglements, loving silence, you served God in the monastic life; you offered yourself as a divine offering, raised high by fasting, hating bodily pleasures, rejecting the beauty of the world and the desires of this age, following in the steps of the high-minded fathers, burning with zeal, rising through silence, adorned by humility. Rejoice: strengthened by hope, receiving eternal blessings, you put to death fleshly desire, that source of lawlessness and rebellion, venerable father, and escaped the devils' schemes and their snares. With the righteous, father, you have found rest, receiving the reward for your labors, having become heir of the fathers, following their teaching and their way of life and their self-control and keeping their rule. More than all, you emulated the great Theodosius in life and conduct, zealously following his custom and passing from deed to better deed, offering your customary prayers to God and bringing the fragrance of sweetness, the censer of prayer, fragrant incense. Having conquered worldly desire and the world-ruler, the prince of this darkness; having trampled the adversary the devil and his schemes, you appeared a victor, standing firm against his arrows and proud thoughts, strengthened by the weapon of the cross and by unconquerable faith and by God's help. Pray for me, honored father, that I may be delivered from the enemy's net, and by your prayers keep me from the hostile foe.”

In the same year there was a sign in the sun: it failed, and little of it remained — it was like the moon, at the second hour of the day, on May 21. In the same year, while Vsevolod was hunting wild beasts beyond Vyshhorod, and the nets were being spread and the men gave a shout, a very great serpent fell from the sky, and all the people were terrified. At that time the earth gave a thud, and many heard it. In the same year a sorcerer appeared at Rostov and perished.

In the year 6600. A most strange wonder happened in Polotsk, an apparition: in the night, when there was darkness, at midnight there was groaning, as if devils raced along the street like men. If anyone climbed out of his house to look, he was at once wounded invisibly by devils, and from those wounds people died, and no one dared come out of his house. After this they began to appear in the daytime on horses; the devils themselves could not be seen, only the hooves of their horses could be seen, and so they wounded the people of Polotsk and the whole region. That is why people said that the dead were striking the people of Polotsk. This sign began from Drutsk. At that time there was also a sign in the sky: a very great circle appeared in the middle of the sky. In that year the drought was such that the earth burned, and many pine forests burned on their own, and the swamps; many signs appeared in the land, and there was great war from the Cumans on every side. They took 3 towns: Pesochen, Perevoloka, and Priluk, and they ravaged many villages. In the same year the Cumans waged war on the Poles together with Vasilko Rostislavich. In that year Rurik, son of Rostislav, died. At the same time many people were dying of various diseases; as those who sold crosses said, they had sold 7,000 crosses from St. Philip's day to the beginning of Lent. This happened because of our sins, for our sins and wrongs had multiplied. God brought this upon us, commanding us to have repentance and to turn away from sin and envy and from the other evil works of the enemy.

In the year 6601, the first year of the indiction, the grand prince Vsevolod died. He was the son of Yaroslav and the grandson of Vladimir. He died on April 13 and was buried on April 14. It was then Passion Week, and the day was Great Thursday. On that day he was laid in his tomb at the great church of Holy Sophia. This faithful prince Vsevolod had loved justice from his youth and had watched over the poor. He gave honor to bishops and priests, and he loved monks especially, and he gave them what they asked for. He himself held back from drunkenness and from lust. That is why his father loved him. His father used to say to him: “My son! It is good for me when I hear of your gentleness, and I rejoice that you give rest to my old age. If God grants you to take the authority of my throne after your brothers, with justice and without violence, then when God takes you from this life you will lie where I lie, at my tomb, because I love you more than your brothers.” And his father's word came true, just as he had spoken it. He received his father's throne after all his brothers, and after his brother's death he sat ruling as prince in Kyiv.

Then greater sorrows came upon him than when he sat in Pereiaslav. Once he sat in Kyiv, sorrow came to him over his nephews. They began to press him hard, each wanting power, this one one region and that one another; and he, humbling them, handed out territories to them. Along with these sorrows, illnesses rose up in him, and old age came on with them. Then he began to favor clever young men and made his plans with them. They began to lead him and to show contempt for his first retinue, and people could no longer reach the prince's justice. His stewards began to rob people and to sell them, while he did not know of it because of his sicknesses. When he fell very ill, he sent to Chernihiv for his son Vladimir. Vladimir came and saw his father ill, and he wept greatly. While Vladimir and Rostislav, his younger son, sat by him, the hour came, and he died quietly and gently and was joined to his fathers. He had ruled 15 years in Kyiv, one year in Pereiaslav, and one year in Chernihiv. Vladimir wept with his brother Rostislav, and the two laid away his body. The bishops gathered, and the abbots with the monks, and the priests, and the boyars, and the common people. They took up his body with the customary songs and laid it in Holy Sophia, as we said before.

Vladimir began to think it over, saying: “If I sit on my father's throne, I will have war with Sviatopolk, because that throne was his father's before.” Having thought it over this way, he sent for Sviatopolk from Turov, and he himself went to Chernihiv, and Rostislav to Pereiaslav.

After Easter had passed and the feast week gone by, on the day of Antipascha, April 24 […], the reign of Sviatopolk began in Kyiv. Sviatopolk came to Kyiv. The people of Kyiv came out to meet him with bows and received him with joy, and he sat on the throne of his father and of his uncle. At that same time the Cumans set out against the land of Rus', because they had heard that Vsevolod was dead. They sent envoys to Sviatopolk about peace. Sviatopolk did not take counsel with the great retinue of his father and of his own host, but made his plan with the men who had come with him. He seized the envoys and threw them into a cellar. When the Cumans heard of this, they began to make war. Many Cumans came and surrounded the town of Torchesk. Sviatopolk heard that the Cumans had come, and sent to ask for peace, but the Cumans did not want peace. They spread over the land making war. Sviatopolk began to gather troops, wanting to move against them. Wise men said to him: “Do not try to take them on, for you have few troops.” He said to them: “I have 800 of my retainers, and they can stand against them.” Then others, foolish ones, began to say: “Ride out, prince!”

The wise men said: “Even if you had 8,000 of them, it would not be enough. Our land has grown poor from wars and fines. But send to your brother Vladimir, so that he may help you.” Sviatopolk listened to them and sent to Vladimir, asking for his help. Vladimir gathered his troops and sent for his brother Rostislav from Pereiaslav, telling him to help Sviatopolk. When Vladimir came to Kyiv, the two gathered at St. Michael's. They took up the feuds and grudges between them, and settled them. They kissed the cross to each other, while the Cumans were making war across the land. Wise men said to them: “Why do you two keep a feud between yourselves? Pagans are destroying the land of Rus'. Settle it later. Now ride out against them, whether for peace or for war.” Vladimir wanted peace, but Sviatopolk wanted war. So Sviatopolk and Vladimir and Rostislav set out toward Trepol, and came to the Stuhna. Sviatopolk, Vladimir, and Rostislav called their retinues together for a council. They wanted to cross the river, and they began to debate.

Vladimir said: “If we stand here on this side of the river, in this danger, we shall make peace with them.” The wise men approved this plan, Jan and the others. The people of Kyiv did not want this plan. They said: “We want to fight. Let us cross to the other side of the river.” They chose this plan and crossed the river Stuhna, though it had flooded very high. Sviatopolk, Vladimir, and Rostislav formed their ranks and marched. Sviatopolk marched on the right side, Vladimir on the left, and Rostislav in the middle. They passed Trepol and went beyond the rampart. Then the Cumans came against them, with archers ahead of them. Our men took position between the ramparts and set up their banners, and the archers came out from the rampart. The Cumans came up to the rampart, set up their banners, pressed first on Sviatopolk, and broke his regiment. Sviatopolk stood firm, but his men fled, unable to bear the enemy's attack, and after that Sviatopolk fled too. Then the Cumans pressed on Vladimir, and the battle was fierce, and Vladimir also fled with Rostislav and his troops.

They ran to the river Stuhna, and Vladimir forded it with Rostislav. Rostislav began to drown before Vladimir's eyes. Vladimir tried to catch his brother, and he himself almost drowned. So Rostislav, son of Vsevolod, drowned. Vladimir crossed the river with a small part of his retinue. Many fell from his regiment, and his boyars fell there. When he came to the far side of the Dnieper, he wept for his brother and for his retinue, and he went to Chernihiv in great sorrow. Sviatopolk fled to Trepol and shut himself in there. He stayed there until evening, and that night he came to Kyiv. When the Cumans saw this, they let some of their bands loose over the land making war, and others turned back to Torchesk. This disaster happened on the day of the holy Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, May 26. They searched for Rostislav and found him in the river. They took him and carried him to Kyiv. His mother wept over him, and all the people wept greatly for him, because of his youth.

The bishops gathered, and the priests, and the monks. They sang the customary songs and laid him in the church of Holy Sophia, by his father. The Cumans besieged Torchesk. The Torks resisted them and fought hard from the town, and killed many of their enemies. The Cumans began to press the siege and to cut off the water. The people in the town began to fail from thirst and from hunger. The Torks sent […] to Sviatopolk, saying: “If you do not send food, we must surrender.” Sviatopolk sent, but it was impossible to get into the town past so many enemies. The Cumans stood around the town for 9 weeks, and then split in two. Some stayed at the town making war, and the others went toward Kyiv and made a raid between Kyiv and Vyshhorod. Sviatopolk marched out to Zheliani. The two sides marched against each other, met, and the battle grew fierce. Our men fled before the foreigners. The wounded fell before our enemies, and many perished and lay dead, more than at Trepol. Sviatopolk came to Kyiv with only two companions, and the Cumans turned back to Torchesk.

These evils happened on July 23. The next day, on the 24th, the feast of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, there was great weeping in the town for the greatness of our sins and for the multitude of our lawless deeds.

God let the pagans loose on us, not pitying them but punishing us, so that we might pull back from evil deeds. By this invasion of the pagans he corrects us; this is the rod of God, so that, humbled, we may at last come to our senses and leave the evil road. That is why God brings mourning on us on feast days, as this year the first evil happened at Ascension at Trepol, 2 […] on the feast of Boris and Gleb, which is the new feast of Rus'. That is why the prophet said: “And I will turn your feasts into mourning and your songs into weeping.” A great weeping took place in our land. Our villages and our towns were emptied, and we fled before our enemies. As the prophet also said: “You shall fall before your enemies, and those who hate you shall chase you, and you shall flee, and no one shall pursue you. And I will break the boast of your pride, and your strength will come to nothing, and the sword that comes will kill you, and your land will be empty, and your courts will be empty, because you are evil and cunning, and I will march against you in unrighteous fury” — so says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel. For the wicked sons of Ishmael burned villages and barns, and set fire to many churches. Let no one marvel at this: “Where sins abound, there every kind of vision appears.”

That is why the world was given up, why anger spread out, why the land was tormented. Some are led away as captives. Others are cut down. Others are given over for revenge and meet a bitter death. Others tremble as they watch the killed. Others are worn out by hunger and by thirst for water. It is one rebuke and one punishment, though the wounds are many, and the griefs various, and the torments fearful — some bound and shoved along with kicks, held out and driven along in the frost. And this is stranger and more terrible: that among the Christian people fear and trembling and trouble have spread everywhere. Right and fitting! Let us be corrected so, and let us believe this about ourselves when we are corrected: it was right for us “to be given into the hands of a strange and lawless people, more wicked than all the earth.” Let us say in a loud voice: “You are righteous, Lord, and your judgments are righteous.” Let us say with that robber: “We are receiving what we deserve for what we have done.” Let us say with Job: “As it has pleased the Lord, so it has happened. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.” Punished by the invasion of the pagans, let us come to know the Master whom we angered.

We were glorified, but we did not give glory. We were honored, but we did not give honor. We were made holy, but we did not understand. We were bought, but we did not serve. We were born, but we did not stand in awe as before a father. We sinned, and we are punished. As we sinned, so we suffer. All our towns are emptied. We pass through fields where herds of horses, sheep, and oxen once grazed — all this we now see as nothing. The fields stand overgrown; they have become a home for wild beasts. But still we hope in the mercy of God. The good Master punishes us well: “He has not dealt with us according to our lawless deeds, nor has he repaid us according to our sins.” So it befits the good Master to correct, not in proportion to the multitude of sins. So the Lord dealt with us: he raised up the fallen, forgave Adam's transgression, gave the bath of incorruption, and poured out his blood for us. In the same way, seeing us living unrighteously, he brought on us real war and sorrow, so that willingly or unwillingly we shall all find mercy in the age to come. The soul punished here will surely find mercy and relief from torment in the age to come, for the Lord does not punish twice for the same thing. O unspoken love for mankind! He sees us turning to him by force. Boundless is his love for us, though we wished to turn away from his commandment.

See: now, though we do not want to, we endure hardship — and what was done under compulsion has become our free choice. Where was our tenderness then? Now everything is full of tears. Where was our sighing? Now weeping has multiplied through all the streets because of the killed, whom the lawless killed.

The Cumans made much war and turned back to Torchesk. The people in the town were failing from hunger and gave themselves up to the enemy. The Cumans took the town, set it on fire, divided the people, and drove them off to the tents, to their dear ones and their kinsfolk. They suffered through the winter, driven along in chains, in hunger and thirst and trouble. Their faces grew pale and their bodies turned black. In an unknown land, with scorched tongues, walking naked and barefoot, their feet pierced by thorns, they answered one another through tears. One said: “I was of this town.” Another said: “And I of this village.” So they questioned each other with tears, telling of their kin, lifting their eyes to heaven, to the Most High, who knows hidden things.

Let no one dare to say that we are hated by God! Whom has God loved as he has loved us? Whom has he so honored as he has glorified and raised us? No one! All the more has he lifted his anger against us, because, honored above all, we sinned worse than all. More than all others we were enlightened, and knew the Master's will, and despised it, and so we are punished more than others, as is fitting. See, I, a sinner, have many times and often angered God, and I go on sinning every day.

In that same year Rostislav died, the son of Mstislav and grandson of Iziaslav, on October 1, and he was buried on November 16, in the church of the Holy Mother of God of the Tithe.

In the year 6602 Sviatopolk made peace with the Cumans and took as his wife the daughter of Tugorkan, the Cuman prince. In that same year Oleg came with Cumans from Tmutorokan and came to Chernihiv. Vladimir shut himself in the town. Oleg came up to the town and burned around the town, and he burned the monasteries. Vladimir made peace with Oleg and went out of the town to his father's throne in Pereiaslav, and Oleg entered his father's town. The Cumans began to make war around Chernihiv, and Oleg did not stop them, for he had himself commanded them to make war. This was the third time that Oleg brought the pagans against the land of Rus'. May God forgive him that sin, because many Christians were destroyed, and others were taken captive and scattered through the lands. In that same year locusts came to the land of Rus' on August 16 and ate up every plant and much grain. Nothing like this had been heard of in the early days in the land of Rus'; our own eyes saw it, because of our sins. In that same year Stephen, bishop of Volodymyr, died on April 27, at the sixth hour of the night. He had earlier been abbot of the Caves Monastery.

In the year 6603 the Cumans went against the Greeks with Devgenevich and made war on the Greeks, and the emperor took Devgenevich and blinded him. In that same year the Cuman khans Itlar and Kitan came to Vladimir for peace. Itlar came into the town of Pereiaslav, and Kitan took position between the ramparts with his troops. Vladimir gave his son Sviatoslav to Kitan as a hostage, and Itlar stayed in the town with his picked retinue. At that time Slaviata came from Kyiv, from Sviatopolk, to Vladimir, on some business. Then the retinue, Ratibor's men, began to take counsel with Prince Vladimir about destroying Itlar's band. Vladimir did not want to do it, and said: “How can I do this, when I have sworn oaths with them?” The retinue answered and said to Vladimir: “Prince! There is no sin in this for you: God has given them into your hands. Why do they, though they always swear oaths to you, keep destroying the land of Rus' and pouring out Christian blood without end?” And Vladimir listened to them.

That night Vladimir sent Slaviata with some of his retinue and with Torks between the ramparts. First they stole out Sviatoslav, and then they killed Kitan and slaughtered his whole retinue. It was Saturday evening then, and that night Itlar lay in the sleeping loft at Ratibor's, not knowing what had been done to Kitan that night. The next day, on Sunday, in the early-morning hour, Ratibor armed his retainers and ordered them to heat the bathhouse. Vladimir sent his retainer Biaiduk for Itlar's band. Biaiduk said to Itlar: “Prince Vladimir is calling you. He said this: ‘Get dressed in the warm bathhouse and have your breakfast at Ratibor's, and then come to me.’” Itlar said: “So be it.” When they went into the bathhouse, they shut them in. Soldiers climbed onto the roof and dug through into the bathhouse. Then Elbekh, Ratibor's man, took his bow, fitted an arrow, and struck Itlar under the heart, and they shot down his whole retinue.

So Itlar wickedly cast away his life with his whole retinue on Cheese-fare Sunday, at the first hour of the day.

Sviatopolk and Vladimir sent to Oleg, ordering him to go with them against the Cumans. Oleg promised to go with them, but when he set out he did not go on the same road with them. Sviatopolk and Vladimir went against the tents and captured herds and horses, and camels and slaves, and brought them to their own land. Then the two began to be angry with Oleg, because he had not gone against the pagans with them. Sviatopolk and Vladimir sent to Oleg, saying this: “You did not go with us against the pagans who have destroyed the land of Rus'. And you have Itlarevich with you: either kill him, or hand him over to us. He is an enemy to us and to the land of Rus'.” Oleg did not listen to this, and hatred arose between them.

In that same year the Cumans came to Yuriev and stood around it all summer, and almost took it. Sviatopolk made peace with them. The Cumans came beyond the Ros. The men of Yuriev fled and came to Kyiv. Sviatopolk ordered a town built on the Vytichev Hill, naming it for himself — Sviatopolk's town — and he ordered Bishop Marin to settle there with the men of Yuriev, and the men of Zasakov, and the rest of them; and the Cumans burned Yuriev empty. As this year came to its end, David Sviatoslavich went from Novgorod to Smolensk. The men of Novgorod went to Rostov for Mstislav, son of Vladimir. They took him and brought him to Novgorod, and said to David: “Do not come to us.” David turned back and sat again in Smolensk, and Mstislav sat in Novgorod. At that time Iziaslav, son of Vladimir, came from Kursk to Murom. The men of Murom received him and seized Oleg's governor. In that same year locusts came on August 28 and covered the land, and it was terrible to see. They went toward the northern lands, eating grass and millet.

In the year 6604. Sviatopolk and Vladimir sent to Oleg, saying this: “Come to Kyiv, so that we may make an agreement about the Rus' land before the bishops, the abbots, and the men of our fathers, and before the townspeople, so that we may defend the Rus' land from the pagans.” Oleg took this with a reckless mind and with proud words, and said: “It is not fitting that bishops and monks, or a commoner, should judge this.” He did not want to go to his brothers, because he had listened to wicked advisers. Sviatopolk and Vladimir said to him: “Since you will neither go with us against the pagans nor come to the council, then you too are plotting evil against us and want to help the pagans. God will be between us.” Sviatopolk and Vladimir marched on Oleg at Chernihiv, and Oleg fled out of Chernihiv on May 3, a Saturday. Sviatopolk and Vladimir pursued him. Oleg ran into Starodub and shut himself in there. Sviatopolk and Vladimir besieged him in the town. The men in the town fought fiercely from the walls, and the attackers pressed toward the walls, and many were wounded on both sides. There was bitter fighting between them. They stood around the town for 33 days, and the people in the town grew weak. Then Oleg came out of the town wanting peace, and they granted him peace, saying: “Go to your brother David, and then you two come to Kyiv, to the throne of our fathers and our grandfathers, for Kyiv is the eldest city in our land. It is there that you should meet and settle the order.” Oleg promised to do this, and on that they kissed the cross.

At that same time Boniak came with the Cumans to Kyiv on Sunday at evening, raided all around Kyiv, and burned the prince's court at Berestovo. At that same time Kurya with the Cumans raided around Pereiaslav and burned Ustie on May 24. Oleg came out of Starodub and came to Smolensk …, and the Smolensk people did not receive him, and he went on to Ryazan, while Sviatopolk and Vladimir went each back to his own city. In that same month Tugorkan, Sviatopolk's father-in-law, came to Pereiaslav on May 31 and stood around the town, and the people of Pereiaslav shut themselves inside the town. Sviatopolk and Vladimir marched against him on this side of the Dnieper, came to Zarub, and crossed over there. The Cumans did not notice them, God protecting them, and they formed up in battle order and moved toward the town. The townspeople saw them, rejoiced, and went out to them. The Cumans stood on the far side of the Trubizh, drawn up for battle. Sviatopolk and Vladimir waded across the Trubizh toward the Cumans. Vladimir began to want to arrange the retinue in battle order, but the men did not listen; they charged on horseback straight at the enemy. When the Cumans saw this, they turned and ran, and our men chased the enemy and cut down those who resisted.

The Lord brought about a great deliverance that day: on July 19 the foreigners were put to flight. Their prince Tugorkan was killed, and his son with him, and many other princes fell there. The next day they found Tugorkan dead, and Sviatopolk took him up as his father-in-law and as his enemy. They brought him to Kyiv and buried him on the hill at Berestovo, between the two roads—the one going to Berestovo and the other going to the monastery. On the 20th of that same month, on a Friday, at the 1st hour of the day, the godless, mangy Boniak came a second time—secretly, a marauder—suddenly against Kyiv, and the Cumans drove almost into the town itself. They set fire to the outskirts around the town, turned on the monasteries, and burned the monastery of Stephen, its villages, and the monastery of German. Then they came to the Caves Monastery, while we were resting in our cells after matins. They shouted all around the monastery and set up 2 banners in front of the monastery gates, while we fled out behind the monastery and some others escaped up to the upper rooms. The godless sons of Ishmael hacked down the monastery gates, rushed through the cells, chopped down the doors, and carried off everything they found in the cells.

After that they set fire to the house of the holy sovereign Mother of God. They came to the church and set fire to the doors—those that stood at the side corner, and […] the second ones, which faced north. They came into the narthex by the tomb of Theodosius, took the icons, kept setting fire to the doors, and mocked God and our law. But God endured, for their sins and their lawlessness were not yet complete. So they said: “Where is their God, that he should help them and deliver them out of our hands?” And they spoke other blasphemous words against the holy icons, laughing at them. They did not know that God punishes his servants with misfortunes and with wars, so that they may show themselves like gold tested in a furnace. Christians must enter the kingdom of heaven through many sorrows and many griefs; but these pagan mockers, who take joy and abundance in this world, will take torment with the devil and eternal fire in the world to come. At that time they also set fire to the Red Court, which the devout prince Vsevolod had built on the hill above Vydubychi—all of it the accursed Cumans burned with fire. So we, following the prophet, say: “My God! Make them like a wheel, like fire before the face of the wind that burns up the oak groves. So drive them with your storm, and fill their faces with disgrace.”

For they have defiled and burned your holy house, the monastery of your mother, and the bodies of your servants. The godless sons of Ishmael, sent as a punishment for Christians, killed several of our brothers with weapons.

For these peoples came out of the Etrivian desert, between the east and the north. Their tribes number 4: the Turkmen, the Pechenegs, the Torks, and the Cumans. Methodius testifies about them that 8 tribes escaped when Gideon killed them: 8 of them fled into the desert, and he killed 4. Others say that they are the sons of Ammon. It is not so. The sons of Moab are the Khvalisy, and the sons of Ammon are the Bulgars. The Saracens are from Ishmael: they called themselves “Sarini” and took the name of Saracens for themselves, saying: “We are Sarini.” So the Khvalisy and the Bulgars come from Lot's daughters, who conceived by their own father; therefore their tribe is unclean. And Ishmael begot 12 sons, and from them are the Turkmen, the Pechenegs, the Torks, and the Cumans, who come out of the desert. And after these, at the end of the age, the unclean men whom Alexander of Macedon shut up in the mountain—8 tribes—will come out.

Here is what I want to tell: something I heard 4 years before this, which Guriata Rogovich, a Novgorodian, told me. He said: “I sent my servant boy to the Pechera, the people who pay tribute to Novgorod. My boy came to them, and from there he went on to the Yugra. The Yugra are a people whose language cannot be understood, and they live as neighbors of the Samoyeds in the northern regions. The Yugra said to my boy: ‘We keep finding a new wonder, such as we have never heard of in years past. It began 3 years ago. There are mountains lying in the bend of the sea, and their height is as if it reached to the sky. In those mountains there is a great clamor and talking, and they are cutting into the mountain, trying to cut their way through. In that mountain a small window has already been cut, and voices speak through it. Their language cannot be understood, but they show iron and wave a hand, asking for iron. If anyone gives them iron—a knife or an axe—they give furs in return. The road to those mountains is impassable, because of cliffs, snow, and forest, and so we never reach them; and they lie farther away to the north.’”

I said to Guriata: “These are the people shut in by Alexander, emperor of Macedon, as Methodius of Patara told of them, saying: ‘Alexander, king of Macedon, marched into the eastern lands as far as the sea called the place of the Sun, and he saw unclean men of the tribe of Japheth. He saw their uncleanness: they ate every unclean thing—mosquitoes, flies, cats, snakes. They did not bury their dead but ate them, and they ate women's miscarriages, and all unclean beasts. Seeing this, Alexander was afraid that they would multiply and defile the earth, and he drove them into the northern lands, to the high mountains. At God's command the northern mountains closed in over them; only 12 cubits of mountain did not close over them. And he made gates of bronze and coated them with sunclytos. If anyone wants to take them, he cannot, and fire cannot burn them. For such is the nature of sunclytos: fire cannot burn it, and iron will not take it. In the last days, after those 8 tribes that will come out of the Etrivian desert, these unclean peoples that are in the northern mountains will come out as well, by God's command.’”

But let us return to what we said before. Oleg had promised to go to his brother David at Smolensk and to come with his brother to Kyiv and settle the order between them, but he did not want to do it. He came to Smolensk, gathered troops, and marched on Murom, where Iziaslav then was. News reached Iziaslav that Oleg was coming to Murom. He sent for troops to Rostov and Suzdal, and to the Beloozero men, and gathered a large force. Oleg sent his envoys to Iziaslav, saying: “Go to your father's volost, Rostov—for this is my father's volost. I want to sit there and make an agreement with your father. Look, you have driven me out of my father's city. Or do you not want to give me my bread here?” Iziaslav did not listen to these words, because he trusted in the size of his army. Oleg trusted in his own right, for he was in the right in this matter, and he marched on the town with his troops. Iziaslav drew up his forces before the town, in the field. Oleg marched against him in battle formation. The two sides met, and there was fierce fighting.

And they killed Iziaslav, son of Vladimir, grandson of Vsevolod, on September 6. The rest of the troops fled—some through the forest, others into the town. Oleg entered the town, and the townspeople received him. They took Iziaslav and laid him in the monastery of the Holy Savior, and from there they carried him to Novgorod and laid him in St. Sophia, on the left side. After taking the town, Oleg arrested the men of Rostov, of Beloozero, and of Suzdal and put them in chains, and he set out for Suzdal. He came to Suzdal, and the Suzdal people surrendered to him. Oleg, having pacified the town, arrested some of the men, scattered others, and took their property. He came to Rostov, and the Rostov men surrendered to him. He took over the whole land of Murom and the land of Rostov, installed governors in the towns, and began to collect tribute. Mstislav sent his envoy to him from Novgorod, saying: “Go back to Murom, and do not sit in another man's volost. I will send to my father with my retinue to plead, and I will reconcile you with him. It is no wonder that you killed my brother: in wars both emperors and common men perish.” Oleg would not listen to this; he planned rather to take Novgorod too.

Oleg sent his brother Yaroslav ahead to keep watch, while he himself stood in the field near Rostov. Mstislav took counsel with the Novgorodians, and they sent Dobrynia Raguilovich ahead to keep watch. Dobrynia at once began seizing the tribute collectors. Yaroslav learned that the tribute collectors were being seized—he was then standing on the Medveditsa on watch—and he fled that night, reached Oleg, and told him that Mstislav was coming. News also came to Oleg that his watchmen had been seized, and he set out for Rostov. Mstislav marched to the Volga. They told him that Oleg had turned back to Rostov, and Mstislav went after him. Oleg came to Suzdal. Hearing that Mstislav was coming after him, Oleg ordered the town of Suzdal burned. Only the monastery courtyard of the Caves Monastery survived, and the church of St. Demetrius that stands there, which Ephrem had given together with its villages. Oleg fled to Murom, and Mstislav came to Suzdal. Staying there, he kept sending to Oleg, asking for peace, and saying: “I am younger than you. Send to my father, return the retinue you seized, and I will obey you in everything.”

Oleg sent word to him, wanting peace—but by deceit. Mstislav believed the deceit and dismissed his retinue to the villages. Then the Sunday of St. Theodore came, of the 1st week of Lent, and St. Theodore's Saturday arrived. Mstislav was sitting at dinner when news came to him that Oleg was on the Kliazma, for Oleg had come close without warning. Mstislav had believed him and had set no watch. But God knows how to rescue his devout men from deceit. Oleg took up his position on the Kliazma, thinking that Mstislav would flee from fear of him. Mstislav's retinue gathered to him that day and the next—Novgorodians, Rostov men, and Beloozero men. Mstislav took his stand before the town with his retinue drawn up. Neither did Oleg advance against Mstislav, nor Mstislav against Oleg, and they stood against each other for 4 days. Then news came to Mstislav: “Your father has sent your brother Viacheslav with the Cumans.” Viacheslav arrived on the Thursday after St. Theodore's Sunday of Lent, and the next morning, on Friday, Oleg marched against the town in battle order, and Mstislav marched out against him with the Novgorodians.

Mstislav gave Vladimir's banner to a Cuman named Kuman, gave him foot soldiers, and set him on the right wing. Vladimir's banner rose. When Oleg saw Vladimir's banner, he was afraid, and terror fell on him and on his troops. The two sides moved to battle against each other: Oleg went against Mstislav, and Yaroslav went against Viacheslav. Mstislav crossed the burnt ground with the Novgorodians, and the sides clashed at the Kolakcha. The fighting was hard, and Mstislav began to win. Oleg saw that Vladimir's banner had advanced and was beginning to swing around behind his rear; he was afraid, and Oleg fled. Mstislav won. Oleg reached Murom and shut Yaroslav up in Murom, and he himself went on to Ryazan. Mstislav came to Murom, made peace with the men of Murom, took back his own men—the Rostov men and the Suzdal men—and went on to Ryazan after Oleg. Oleg fled out of Ryazan, and Mstislav made peace with the men of Ryazan and took back his men, those whom Oleg had sent into exile. He sent word to Oleg, saying: “Do not run away anywhere. Send to your brothers and plead with them not to strip you of the Rus' land. And I will send to my father to plead for you.” Oleg promised to do so. Mstislav turned back to Suzdal, and from there he came to Novgorod, his own city, through the prayers of the reverend Bishop Nikita. All this happened as the year 6604 was ending, in indiction 4, at its half.

In the year 6605. Sviatopolk and Vladimir, and David Igorevich, and Vasilko Rostislavich, and David Sviatoslavich and his brother Oleg came together and met at Liubech to establish peace. They said among themselves: “Why do we destroy the Rus' land, holding a quarrel […] among ourselves? The Cumans carry off our land piece by piece, and they rejoice that there is war among us to this day. From now on let us be of one heart, and let us guard the Rus' land. Let each one hold his own patrimony: to Sviatopolk—Kyiv, the holding of Iziaslav; to Vladimir—the holding of Vsevolod; to David, Oleg, and Yaroslav—the holding of Sviatoslav, to whom Vsevolod gave the cities: to David, Volodymyr; to the Rostislaviches, Peremyshl; to Volodar, Terebovl; […] to Vasilko.” And on this they kissed the cross: “From now on, if anyone rises up against another, then we shall all be against him, together with the honored cross.” And all said: “May the honored cross and the whole Rus' land be upon him.” And they kissed the cross to one another, and each went back to his own city.

Sviatopolk came to Kyiv with David, and all the people rejoiced. Only the devil was grieved by this love. Satan entered into the heart of certain men, and they began to say to David Igorevich: “Vladimir has made an agreement with Vasilko against Sviatopolk and against you.” David believed the false words, and he began to speak against Vasilko, saying: “Who killed your brother Yaropolk? Now he is plotting against you and against me, and he has conspired with Vladimir. Take thought for your own head.” Sviatopolk was troubled in mind and said: “I do not know whether this is the truth or a lie.” And Sviatopolk said to David: “If you are speaking the truth, may God be your witness; but if you are speaking out of envy, may God call you to account for it.” Sviatopolk grieved for his brother, and he began to think about himself, whether this might be true. And he believed David. David deceived Sviatopolk, and the two of them began to plot against Vasilko, and Vasilko knew nothing of it, nor Vladimir. David began to say: “If we do not seize Vasilko, then you will have no princedom in Kyiv, and I none in Volodymyr.” Sviatopolk listened to him. Vasilko arrived on November 4 and crossed over to Vydubychi to venerate St. Michael at the monastery. He dined there and put his baggage camp at Ruditsa. When evening came, he went out to his baggage camp. The next morning Sviatopolk sent him word: “Do not go away before my name day.” Vasilko refused, saying: “I cannot wait; war may break out at home.” David sent to him: “Do not go, brother, and do not disobey your elder brother. Let us two go together.” Vasilko did not want to do this and would not listen to either of them. David said to Sviatopolk: “Do you see? He does not obey you, even though he walks in your hand. If he gets away to his own volost, you will see for yourself whether he does not seize your towns—Turov and Pinsk and your other towns. Then you will remember me. But call him here now, seize him, and give him to me.” Sviatopolk listened to him and sent for Vasilko, saying: “If you do not want to wait until my name day, then come now, kiss me, and let us all sit down together with David.” Vasilko promised to come, not knowing the deceit David was weaving against him. Vasilko mounted his horse and rode off, and his servant boy met him on the way and told him: “Do not go, prince; they want to seize you.” He did not listen, but thought: “How can they seize me? They kissed the cross, saying that if anyone turns against another, the cross will be against him, and we shall all be against him too.” Having thought this, he crossed himself and said: “May the Lord's will be done.” He came with a small retinue to the prince's court. Sviatopolk came out to meet him, and they went into the great hall, and David came in, and they sat down. Sviatopolk began to say: “Stay through the holy days.” Vasilko said: “I cannot stay, brother; I have already given orders for my baggage to go on ahead.” David sat as if he were speechless. Sviatopolk said: “Have breakfast with us, brother!” Vasilko agreed to have breakfast. Sviatopolk said: “Sit here, you two; I will go out and give orders.” He went out, and David sat with Vasilko. Vasilko began to speak to David, but David had neither voice nor hearing: terror had seized him, and deceit was in his heart.

David sat a little while and said: “Where is the brother?” They said to him: “He is standing in the entry hall.” David rose and said: “Let me go and fetch him; you sit here, brother.” And he rose and went out. As soon as David stepped out, they seized Vasilko, on November 5, and they shackled him in double shackles and set a watch over him for the night. The next morning Sviatopolk summoned the boyars and the Kyivans and told them what David had told him: “He has killed your brother, and he plotted against you with Vladimir; he wants to kill you and seize your town.” The boyars and the people said: “Prince, you must guard your own head. If David has spoken the truth, let Vasilko receive punishment; but if David has spoken falsely, let him receive vengeance from God and answer for it before God.” The abbots learned of it and began to plead with Sviatopolk for Vasilko, and Sviatopolk said to them: “This is David's doing.” David, finding this out, began to press for his blinding: “If you do not do this, and let him go, then neither you will reign, nor I.” Sviatopolk wanted to let him go, but David would not, for he was afraid of him.

That night they took him to Zvenigorod, which is a small town near Kyiv, about 10 versts […] away. They brought him on carts, still in his shackles, took him down off the cart, and led him into a small hut. As he sat there, Vasilko saw a Tork sharpening a knife, and he understood that they meant to blind him, and he cried out to God with loud weeping and loud groaning. Then the men sent by Sviatopolk and David came in—Snovid Izechevich, Sviatopolk's groom, and Dmitr, David's groom. They began to spread out a carpet, and when they had spread it they seized Vasilko and tried to throw him down. He struggled with them hard, and the two of them could not throw him down. Then others came in, threw him down, and bound him. They took a board from the stove and laid it on his chest. Snovid Izechevich and Dmitr sat on either side of him, but they could not hold him. Two more came up, took a second board from the stove, sat on it, and crushed his chest with their knees until his ribs cracked.

Then a Tork named Berendi, Sviatopolk's shepherd, came up, holding a knife. He meant to thrust the knife into his eye, but he missed the eye and cut his face, and that wound remained visible on his face. After that he thrust the knife into his pupil and dug out the pupil; then he thrust the knife into the other eye and dug out the other pupil. At that moment he was like a dead man. They lifted him up on the carpet, laid him on a cart as a dead man, and drove him to Volodymyr. They came and stopped with him, past the Vozdvizhensky bridge, at the marketplace. They pulled the bloody shirt off him and gave it to the priest's wife to wash. She washed it and put it back on him, while the men were eating their dinner, and she began to weep over him as over a dead man. The weeping woke him, and he said: “Where am I?” They said to him: “In the town of Zvizhden.” He asked for water, and they gave it to him. He drank the water, his soul came back into him, he came to himself, and he felt the shirt and said: “Why did you take it off me? I should have died in this shirt and stood before God in a bloody shirt.”

When they had eaten, they set out with him in haste on carts, along the road over frozen ground, for it was then the month gruden, that is, November. They came with him to Volodymyr on the 6th. David came after him, like a beast that has caught its prey. They placed him in Vakei's courtyard and set 30 men to guard him, and 2 princely servant boys, Ulan and Kolcha.

Vladimir heard that Vasilko had been seized and blinded. He was horrified, wept bitterly, and said: “This evil has never happened in the Rus' land, neither under our grandfathers nor under our fathers.” At once he sent to David and Oleg Sviatoslavich, saying: “Come to Gorodets, so that we may undo this evil that has been done in the Rus' land and among us brothers—a knife has been thrown into us. If we do not undo it, worse evil will rise among us: brother will begin to slaughter brother, and the Rus' land will perish, and our enemies the Cumans will come and take the Rus' land.” When David and Oleg heard this, they grieved deeply and began to weep, saying: “This has never happened in our family.” At once they gathered troops and came to Vladimir. Vladimir was standing with his troops by the forest. Vladimir, David, and Oleg sent their men to Sviatopolk, saying: “What have you done in the Rus' land—you have thrown a knife into us? Why have you blinded your brother? If there had been any guilt in him, you would have charged him before us and, having proved it, done this to him. And now, what guilt was his, that you did this to him?” Sviatopolk said: “David Igorevich told me that Vasilko killed your brother Yaropolk, and that he wants to kill you and seize your volost—Turov, and Pinsk, and Brest, and Pogorina—and that he swore an oath with Vladimir that Vladimir would sit in Kyiv and Vasilko in Volodymyr. I had no choice but to guard my own head. It was not I who blinded him; it was David, and he had him brought to himself.”

The men of Vladimir, and of David, and of Oleg said: “Do not hide behind that excuse, that David blinded him. He was not seized in David's town, nor blinded there; he was seized and blinded in your town.” While they were saying this, they went apart from one another. The next day Vladimir, David, and Oleg wanted to cross the Dnieper against Sviatopolk. Sviatopolk wanted to flee from Kyiv, but the Kyivans would not let him flee. Instead they sent Vsevolod's widow and Metropolitan Nicholas to Vladimir, saying: “We beg you, prince, and your brothers: do not destroy the Rus' land. If you take up war among yourselves, the pagans will rejoice and will take our land—the land your grandfathers and your fathers won with great labor and courage, fighting for the Rus' land and searching out other lands as well. And you want to destroy the Rus' land.”

Vsevolod's widow and the metropolitan came to Vladimir, pleaded with him, and told him the request of the Kyivans: to make peace, to guard the Rus' land, and to fight the pagans. When Vladimir heard this, he wept and said: “Truly, our fathers and our grandfathers guarded the Rus' land, and we want to destroy it.” He gave in to the princess's prayer, for he honored her as a mother for the sake of his father. His father had loved him greatly, in life and after death, and he had never disobeyed him in anything. So he obeyed her as a mother, and the metropolitan as well, for he honored the holy office of bishop; he did not turn away from his plea.

This is the kind of loving man Vladimir was: he had love for metropolitans, and for bishops, and for abbots, and above all he loved the monastic order. Whoever came to him he fed and gave drink to, like a mother feeds her children. If he saw anyone quarreling, or caught in any fault, he did not condemn him, but turned everything toward love and comforted him.

But let us return to what we spoke of before. When the princess had been with Vladimir, she came to Kyiv and told the whole matter to Sviatopolk and to the Kyivans: there would be peace. Men began to go back and forth between them, and they made peace on this basis: they said to Sviatopolk, “This is David's plot. So you, Sviatopolk, go against David: either seize him or drive him out.” Sviatopolk agreed to this. They kissed the cross between them and made peace.

While Vasilko was kept in Volodymyr at the place spoken of before, Great Lent drew near. I was there in Volodymyr at that time, and one night Prince David sent for me. I came to him; his retinue sat around him. He seated me and said to me: “Vasilko said this not long ago to Vlan and Kolcha. Vasilko said: ‘I hear that Vladimir and Sviatopolk are marching on David. If David would obey me, I would send my man to Vladimir, and he would turn back—Vladimir knows what I said to him, and he will not march.’ So, Vasil, I am sending you: go to Vasilko with these two servant boys and say this to him: ‘If you send your man, Vladimir will turn back, and then I will give you whatever city you like: either Vsevolozh, or Shepol, or Peremil.’” I went to Vasilko and told him all of David's speech. He said: “I never said that; I put my hope in God. I will send to Vladimir, so that they do not shed blood on my account. But this is what amazes me: he offers me his own city, while my Terebovl, my own volost, is still being withheld from me.” And so it turned out: he soon received his volost. He said to me: “Go to David and tell him: ‘Send me Kulmei, and I will send him to Vladimir.’” David did not listen to him, and he sent me back again, saying: “Kulmei is not here.” Vasilko said to me: “Sit a while.”

He ordered his servant to go out, sat down with me, and began to speak: “I hear that David wants to hand me over to the Poles. He has barely satisfied himself with my blood, and now he wants to satisfy himself further by giving me to them. I did great evil to the Poles, and I still wanted to do more and to avenge the Rus' land. If he hands me over to the Poles, I am not afraid of death. But I tell you the truth: God brought this on me for my exaltation. News came to me that the Berendei were coming to me, and the Pechenegs, and the Torks, and I said in my heart: if the Berendei and the Torks and the Pechenegs are mine, I will say to my brother Volodar and to David: ‘Give up your younger retinues, and you two drink and enjoy yourselves.’ And I planned: ‘I will fall on the Polish land in winter and in summer, and I will take the Polish land and avenge the Rus' land.’ After that I wanted to seize the Danube Bulgars and settle them with me. After that I wanted to ask Sviatopolk and Vladimir to let me go against the Cumans, and I said: I will march on the Cumans, and either I win glory for myself, or I lay down my head for the Rus' land. I had no other thought in my heart, neither against Sviatopolk nor against David. And I swear by God and by his coming that I planned no evil against my brothers in any way. But because of my exaltation—that the Berendei came to me and my heart rejoiced and my mind lifted itself up—God brought me down and humbled me.”

When Easter was drawing near, David set out, wanting to take Vasilko's power, and Volodar, Vasilko's brother, met him at Buzhsk. David did not dare stand against Volodar and shut himself up in Buzhsk, and Volodar surrounded the town of Buzhsk. Volodar began to speak: “Why do you not repent of the evil you have done? Remember now how much evil you have done.” David began to lay the blame on Sviatopolk, saying: “Was it I who did this? Was it done in my town? I myself was afraid that they would seize me too and do the same to me. I had no choice but to join their counsel, since I was in their power.” Volodar said: “God is witness to that. Now release my brother, and I will make peace with you.” David, glad at this, sent for Vasilko, brought him, and handed him over to Volodar, and peace was made, and the two sides parted. Vasilko sat in Terebovl, and David came to Volodymyr.

When spring came, Volodar and Vasilko marched against David and came to Vsevolozh, and David shut himself up in Volodymyr. The two of them drew up around Vsevolozh, stormed the town, and set it on fire, and the people ran out of the fire. Vasilko ordered all of them cut down, and Vasilko carried out a massacre on innocent people and shed innocent blood. Then the two came to Volodymyr, and David shut himself in the town, and they surrounded the town. They sent this message to the men of Volodymyr: “We did not come against your town or against you, but against our enemies—against Turiak and Lazor and Vasil; it was they who talked David into it, and David listened to them and did all the evil. If you want to fight for them, then we are ready; if not, hand over our enemies.”

The townspeople heard this and called an assembly, and the people said to David at the assembly: “Hand over these men. We will not fight for them; we would fight for you, but not for them. If you will not, we will open the gates of the town, and you can look out for yourself.” David was forced to hand them over. David said: “They are not here”—he had sent them off to Lutsk. After they had gone toward Lutsk, Turiak fled to Kyiv, and Lazor and Vasil turned back to Turiisk. The people heard that they were in Turiisk and shouted at David, saying: “Hand over the men they want. If you will not, we will surrender.” David sent and brought Vasil and Lazor and gave them up. Peace was made on Sunday, and the next day, on Monday, at dawn, Vasilko and his brother hanged Lazor and Vasil and shot them full of arrows, and they left the town.

This was the second act of vengeance, and it was wrong to do it; he should have let God be the avenger and laid his vengeance on God, as the prophet says: “I will give vengeance to my enemies, and to those who hate me I will repay; for he avenges and repays the blood of his sons, and he will give vengeance to his enemies, and to those who hate him he will repay.” After these men had been taken out of the town, they took the bodies down and buried them.

Sviatopolk had promised to do this—to drive David out—and set out for Brest, toward the Poles. Hearing this, David went to the Poles, to Wladyslaw, to seek help. The Poles promised to do this and took 50 grivnas of gold from him, telling him: “March with us to Brest: Sviatopolk is summoning us to a meeting, and there we will reconcile you with Sviatopolk.” David listened to them and went to Brest with Wladyslaw. Sviatopolk stood in the town, and the Poles on the Bug, and Sviatopolk conferred with the Poles and gave them great gifts against David. Wladyslaw said: “Sviatopolk will not listen to me. Go back.” David came back to Volodymyr. Sviatopolk made an agreement with the Poles and marched toward Pinsk, sending for his troops. He came to Dorogobuzh and waited there for his troops, then marched against David to his town. David shut himself in the town, hoping for help from the Poles against Sviatopolk, for they had told him: “If the princes of Rus' come against you, we will be your helpers.” And they lied, taking gold from both David and Sviatopolk. Sviatopolk surrounded the town, and David was inside. Sviatopolk stood around the town for 7 weeks, and David began to beg him: “Let me out of the town.” Sviatopolk promised this, and the two kissed the cross between them, and David came out of the town and came to Chernen, and Sviatopolk entered the town on Holy Saturday. David fled to the Poles.

Sviatopolk, having driven David out, began to plot against Volodar and Vasilko, saying that “this is the domain of my father and my brother,” and marched against them. Hearing this, Volodar and Vasilko marched out against him, carrying the cross that he had kissed with the two of them on this condition: “I have come against David, and I wish to have peace and love with you two.” Sviatopolk broke his word, trusting in the size of his army. The two sides met on the field at Rozhne. When both had drawn up their battle lines, Vasilko lifted the cross high and said: “You kissed this cross. First you took the sight of […] my eye, and now you want to take my life. Let this precious cross stand between us.” Both sides moved against each other to fight, and the armies met, and many faithful men saw the cross raised very high above Vasilko's troops. The battle grew fierce, and many were falling from both armies, and Sviatopolk saw that the battle was bitter, and he fled and reached Volodymyr. Volodar and Vasilko, having won, stayed there, saying: “It is enough for the two of us to stand on our own border,” and they went nowhere. Sviatopolk fled to Volodymyr, and with him his two sons, and Sviatosha, the son of David Sviatoslavich, and the rest of the retinue.

Sviatopolk installed his son Mstislav in Volodymyr; this son was born to him by a concubine. He sent Yaroslav to the Magyars to invite the Magyars against Volodar, and he himself went to Kyiv. Yaroslav, Sviatopolk's son, came with the Magyars, and with King Coloman and 2 bishops, and they encamped around Peremyshl along the Viahra, and Volodar shut himself in the town. David at that point came from the Poles, left his wife with Volodar, and went to the Cumans. Boniak met him, David turned back, and the two of them marched against the Magyars. As the two went, they stopped for the night, and at midnight Boniak got up, rode away from the army, and began to howl like a wolf, and a wolf answered him, and many wolves began to howl. Boniak rode back and told David: “We shall have victory over the Magyars.”

The next day Boniak drew up his troops: 100 of David's men, and Boniak's about three hundred. He divided them into 3 regiments and marched against the Magyars. He sent Altunopa with 50 men ahead to raid, stationed David under the banner, and split his own force into two regiments, 50 men on each side. The Magyars drew up in ranks, for the Magyars numbered 100 thousand. Altunopa charged at the first rank and, after shooting, fled in front of the Magyars; the Magyars chased them, thinking Boniak was fleeing, while Boniak attacked, cutting at their shoulders. Altunopa wheeled back again, and the Magyars could not reach them again, and in this way he cut them down many times over. Boniak split his men into 3 regiments and beat the Magyars into a single mass, as a falcon beats down a jackdaw. The Magyars fled, and many drowned in the Viahra, others in the San. As they fled beside the San toward the hill, they pushed one another, and he pursued them for two days, cutting them down.

There they killed their bishop Kupan and many of the boyars, and, as it was said, 40 thousand were killed.

Yaroslav fled to the Poles and came to Brest. David, taking Suteisk and Cherven, came suddenly and seized the men of Volodymyr. Mstislav shut himself in the town with the garrison; he already had the men of Brest and Pinsk and the men of Vyshhorod with him. David stood there, surrounding the town, and attacked it again and again. Once they came up to the town under siege towers, and while those in the town fought and shot at one another, the arrows fell like rain. As Mstislav was about to shoot, he was suddenly struck under the arm by an arrow through a gap in the rampart, and they took him down, and he died that night. They hid it for 3 days, and on the fourth day they announced it at the assembly. The people said: “Here our prince is dead. If we give ourselves up, Sviatopolk will destroy us.” They sent to Sviatopolk, saying: “Your son is dead, and we are worn out with hunger. If you do not come, the people want to give themselves up; they cannot bear the famine.” Sviatopolk sent Putiata, his commander.

Putiata came with troops to Lutsk, to Sviatosha, David's son, and David's men were staying with Sviatosha there. Sviatosha had sworn an oath to David: “If Sviatopolk marches against you, I will let you know.” But Sviatosha did not do this; instead he seized David's men and himself marched against David. Sviatosha and Putiata arrived on August 5, while David was besieging the town, at midday, with David asleep, and they fell on him and began to cut them down. The townspeople leaped out of the town and began to cut down David's troops, and David fled, and Mstislav his nephew. Sviatosha and Putiata took the town and installed Sviatopolk's governor Vasil. Sviatosha went on to Lutsk, and Putiata to Kyiv. David fled to the Cumans and met […] Boniak and the Cumans. David and Boniak marched against Sviatosha at Lutsk, surrounded Sviatosha in the town, and made peace. Sviatosha came out of the town and came to his father at Chernihiv. David took Lutsk, and from there came to Volodymyr; the governor Vasil fled the town, and David took Volodymyr and sat in it. The next year the princes held a meeting.

Sviatopolk, Vladimir, David, and Oleg lured David Igorevich in and did not give him Volodymyr, but gave him Dorogobuzh, where he died. Sviatopolk took Volodymyr and installed his son Yaroslav there.

In the year 6606. Vladimir and David and Oleg came against Sviatopolk and stopped at Gorodets, and they made peace. In the same year Vladimir built a stone church of the Holy Mother of God in Pereiaslav, on the prince's court. That same year Vladimir Monomakh founded a town on the Oster.

In the year 6607. Sviatopolk marched against David to Volodymyr and drove David out to the Poles. In the same year there was a sign over Volodymyr in the month of April: two circles, and between them what looked like a sun, until the sixth hour; and at night three bright paths until dawn. That same year the Magyars were beaten at Peremyshl. That same year Mstislav, Sviatopolk's son, was killed at Volodymyr on June 12.

Mstislav went from David onto the sea on June 10. That year the brothers made peace with one another—Sviatopolk and Vladimir, David and Oleg—at Uvetichi on August 14. On the 30th of the same month, in that same place, all the brothers gathered: Sviatopolk, Vladimir, David, Oleg. David Igorevich came to them and said: “Why did you lure me here? Here I am. Who has a wrong against me?” Vladimir answered him: “You sent to us, saying: ‘I want, brothers, to come to you and complain of my wrong.’ So here you have come and are sitting with your brothers on one carpet. Why do you not complain? Against whom do you have a wrong?” David answered him nothing. All the brothers stood on their horses, and Sviatopolk stood with his retinue, and David and Oleg stood apart with their retinue. David Igorevich sat off to the side, and they did not let him come to them, and they took counsel about David separately.

After taking counsel, they sent their men to David: Sviatopolk sent Putiata, Vladimir sent Ratibor, David and Oleg sent Torchin. The messengers came to David and said to him: “This is what the brothers say to you: ‘We do not want to give you the throne of Volodymyr, because you threw a knife into us, the like of which there had never been in the land of Rus'. But we will not seize you or do you any other harm. This is what we give you: go and sit in the fortress of Buzhsk. Dubno and Chertoryesk—Sviatopolk gives you those, and Vladimir gives you 200 grivnas, and David and Oleg 200 grivnas.’” Then they sent their envoys to Volodar and Vasilko: “Take your brother Vasilko to yourself, and Peremyshl will be yours. If that pleases you, sit there; if not, send Vasilko here and we will provide for him here. And hand over our slaves and our peasants.” Volodar and Vasilko did not listen to this.

David was living at Buzhsk, and afterwards Sviatopolk gave David Dorogobuzh, where he died, and Volodymyr he gave to his son Yaroslav.

In the year 6609. Vseslav, prince of Polotsk, died on April 14, at the ninth hour of the day, on a Wednesday. That year Yaroslav Yaropolchich shut himself up in Brest, and Sviatopolk marched out against him, hemmed him in the town, took him, put him in chains, and brought him to Kyiv. The metropolitan and the abbots prayed for him, talked Sviatopolk around, led him to the shrine of the holy Boris and Gleb, removed his chains, and set him free. In that year the brothers gathered—Sviatopolk and Vladimir, David, Oleg, and Yaroslav with his brother—at Zolotcha. The Cumans sent envoys from all their princes to all the brothers, speaking and asking for peace. The princes of Rus' said to them: “If you want peace, let us meet at Sakov.” The Cumans sent word back, they met at Sakov, made peace with the Cumans, and took hostages from each other, on September 15. That same year Vladimir built a stone church of the Holy Mother of God in Smolensk, to be the bishop's church.

In the year 6610. Yaroslav Yaropolchich escaped from Kyiv on October 1. At the end of that same month Yaroslav Sviatopolchich tricked Yaroslav Yaropolchich, seized him on the Nura, brought him to his father Sviatopolk, and they put him in chains. That year, on October 20, Mstislav, Vladimir's son, came with the men of Novgorod, for Sviatopolk had made an agreement with Vladimir: Novgorod was to belong to Sviatopolk, and he would install his son in Novgorod, and in Volodymyr Vladimir would install his own son. Mstislav came to Kyiv, and they sat in a small upper room, and Vladimir's men said: “Here is the son that Vladimir has sent, and here the men of Novgorod sit: they will take your son and go to Novgorod, and Mstislav is to go to Volodymyr.” The men of Novgorod said to Sviatopolk: “Here we are, prince, sent to you, and this is what we were told to say: we do not want Sviatopolk or his son. If your son has two heads, then send him. This one Vsevolod gave us; we made him our prince ourselves, but you went away from us.”

Sviatopolk argued with them at length, but when they would not give in, they took Mstislav and set off for Novgorod. That year there was a sign in the sky on January 29, for 3 days: a fiery-looking dawn from the east, and the south, and the west, and the north, and it was as bright all night as a full moon shining. That year there was a sign at the moon on February 5. On the 7th of the same month there was a sign in the sun: the sun was ringed by 3 arcs, and there were other arcs with their backs toward one another. Seeing these signs, the faithful sighed and prayed to God with tears that God would turn these signs to good. Signs happen sometimes for good and sometimes for evil. And these signs were for good: the next year God put a good thought into the princes of Rus'—they resolved to dare to attack the Cumans and go into their land, and that is what happened, as we shall tell in the following year. That same year Wladyslaw, prince of the Poles, died. That same year Yaroslav Yaropolchich died on August 11.

That same year Sbyslava, Sviatopolk's daughter, was led to the Poles as a bride for Boleslav, on November 16. That year a son, Andrei, was born to Vladimir.

In the year 6611. God put a good thought into the hearts of the princes of Rus', Sviatopolk and Vladimir, and the two met to take counsel at Dolobsk. Sviatopolk sat with his retinue, and Vladimir with his retinue, and they were in one tent. As they began to take counsel, Sviatopolk's retinue spoke up: “It is not the time to make war in spring: we shall be destroying the peasants and their fields.” Vladimir said: “I am amazed at you, retainers. You worry about the horse a man plows with. Why do you not think about this: a peasant starts plowing, a Cuman rides up, strikes the peasant with an arrow, takes his mare, rides into the village, takes his wife and his children, and carries off all his property. You worry about his horse, but why do you not worry about the man himself?” Sviatopolk's retinue could not answer him. Sviatopolk said: “Brother! Here I am, ready.” Sviatopolk rose, and Vladimir said to him: “By doing this, brother, you will do a great good for the land of Rus'.” The two sent to David and Oleg, saying: “March with us against the Cumans; whether we live or die, we go.”

David listened to the two of them, but Oleg did not listen, giving as his excuse: “I am not well.” Vladimir kissed his brother and set out for Pereiaslav, and Sviatopolk followed him, and David Sviatoslavich, and Mstislav, Igor's grandson, and Viacheslav Yaropolchich, and Yaropolk Vladimirovich. They marched on horseback and in boats and came below the rapids and stopped at Protolchi and on Khortitsa Island. The horsemen mounted, and the foot soldiers climbed out of the boats and went across the open country for 4 days and came to Suten. The Cumans heard that the Rus' were coming, gathered beyond counting, and began to take counsel. Urusoba said: “Let us ask the Rus' for peace. They will fight us hard, for we have done much evil to the land of Rus'.” The younger men said to Urusoba: “If you fear the Rus', we do not. We will kill these men, go into their land, take all their towns, and who will deliver them from us?” The princes and troops of Rus' prayed to God and to his most pure Mother, some with offerings, some with alms to the poor, and some by supplying the monasteries' needs.

While they were praying like this, the Cumans marched out and sent Altunopa ahead as their watch; he was famous for his bravery. The princes of Rus' likewise sent out their scouts. They caught Altunopa, surrounded him and those with him, and killed them; not one of them escaped—all were killed. The Cuman regiments marched on like forests, so many that the eye could not take them in, and the Rus' went out against them. And the great God put great dismay into the Cumans; fear and trembling fell on them at the sight of the Rus' troops; they grew drowsy, and their horses had no speed left in their legs. The Rus' came running at them with joy, on horseback and on foot. The Cumans, seeing the Rus' bearing down on them, could not stand and fled before the Rus' princes. Our men pursued them, cutting them down. This was on April 4, and God worked great salvation that day for the faithful princes of Rus' and for all Christians, and gave a great victory over our enemies.

There in the battle they killed 20 princes: Urusoba, Kochii, Yaroslanopa, Kitanopa, Kunam, Asup, Kurtyk, Chenegrepa, Surbar, and their other princes, and they took Belduz captive. Then the brothers sat down, having defeated their enemies, and brought Belduz to Sviatopolk, and Belduz began offering gold, silver, horses, and cattle to ransom himself. Sviatopolk sent for Vladimir. When he came, Vladimir questioned him: “Do you know—the oath has caught you. Many times you swore oaths and then raided the land of Rus'. Why did you not teach your sons and your kin not to break the oath? Instead you shed Christian blood. Let your blood be on your own head.” And he ordered him killed, and so they cut him to pieces. After that all the brothers gathered, and Vladimir said: “‘This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,’ for God has delivered us from our enemies and subdued our enemies, and ‘he has crushed the heads of the serpents, and the Lord has given their flesh to us for food.’”

They took then cattle and sheep and horses and camels, and the wagons with their goods and their slaves, and captured Pechenegs and Torks with their wagons. They came back to Rus' with great plunder and with glory and a great victory, each man to his own home.

That year locusts came, on August 1. That year, on the 18th of the same month, Sviatopolk marched out and built the wooden fortress of Yuriev, which the Cumans had burned. That year Yaroslav fought the Mordvians on March 4, and Yaroslav was defeated.

In the year 6612. Volodar's daughter was led to Constantinople as a bride for the emperor's son, the son of Alexios, on July 20. That year Predslava, Sviatopolk's daughter, was led to the Magyars as a bride for the king's son, on August 21. That year Metropolitan Nikephoros came to Rus' on December 6. On the 13th of the same month Viacheslav Yaropolchich died. On the 18th of the same month Metropolitan Nikephoros was enthroned. As that year was ending, Sviatopolk sent Putiata against Minsk, and Vladimir sent his son Yaropolk, and Oleg himself marched against Gleb, taking David Vseslavich along, and they accomplished nothing and turned back. A son was born to Sviatopolk, and they gave him the name Briachislav. That same year there was a sign: the sun stood in a circle, and in the middle of the circle a cross, and in the middle of the cross the sun, and outside the circle 2 suns on either side, and above the sun, beyond the circle, an arc with its horns toward the north. The same sign appeared at the moon in the same way on February 4, 5, and 6, in the daytime for three days, and at night with the moon for three nights.

In the year 6613. The top of the church of St. Andrew fell down. That year the metropolitan consecrated Amphilochius as bishop of Volodymyr on August 27. That year he installed Lazar as bishop of Pereiaslav on November 12. That year he installed Mina as bishop of Polotsk on December 13. That year a star with a tail appeared in the west and stood for a month. That year Boniak came in winter to Zarub against the Torks and the Berendei.

In the year 6614. The Cumans raided around Zarechsk, and Sviatopolk sent Jan and Ivanko Zakharich and Kozarin after them; they chased the Cumans as far as the Danube and took plunder and captives […]. That same year Jan died, a good old man who lived 90 years, held in honor in his old age. He had lived by God's law, no worse than the righteous men of the first times. I heard many words from him, and I wrote them down in this chronicle. He was a kind and meek and humble man, who held himself apart from every worldly thing. His grave is in the Caves Monastery, by the narthex, where his body lies, laid there on June 24. That year Evpraksia, Vsevolod's daughter, took monastic vows, on December 6. That year in August there was an eclipse of the sun. At that time Prince Sviatosha took monastic vows—he was David's son and Sviatoslav's grandson—taking the name Nicholas, on February 17. That same year the Semigallians defeated the Vseslavichi and all their brotherhood and retinue, and killed 9 thousand of them.

In the year 6615, the 4th year of the lunar circle and the 8th year of the solar circle. At that time Vladimir's princess died, on May 7. That same month Boniak raided and seized horses near Pereiaslav. That year Boniak and old Sharukan and many other princes came and encamped around Lubno. Sviatopolk, Vladimir, Oleg, Sviatoslav, Mstislav, Viacheslav, and Yaropolk marched against the Cumans at Lubno; at the sixth hour of the day they forded the Sula and charged with a shout. The Cumans panicked; from terror they could not even plant their banners, but fled, some grabbing for horses, others running on foot. Our men began cutting them down and grabbing others with their bare hands, and drove them to the Khorol. They killed Taaz, Boniak's brother, and took Sugra and his brothers captive, but Sharukan barely escaped.

The Cumans abandoned their property and fled, and the troops of Rus' took it on August 12, and returned home with a great victory. The next day Sviatopolk came to the Caves Monastery, for the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, and the brothers kissed him with great joy, because our enemies had been put to flight through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God and of our great father Theodosius. Such was Sviatopolk's custom: whenever he went to war, or anywhere else, he would first bow at Theodosius's tomb and receive a blessing from the abbot there, and only then set out on his way. That year the princess, Sviatopolk's mother, died on January 4. That year, in the same month, Vladimir, David, and Oleg went to Aepa and the other Aepa and made peace.

Vladimir married Aepa's daughter, Asen's granddaughter, to his son George, and Oleg took Aepa's daughter, Girgen's granddaughter, for his son, on January 12. And on February 5 the earth shook before dawn, in the night.

In the year 6616. Prince Sviatopolk founded the church of St. Michael of the Golden Roof on July 11. The refectory of the Caves Monastery was finished under Abbot Theoktist; Gleb had ordered it built, and Gleb supplied it. That year there was a great flood on the Dnieper, and on the Desna, and on the Pripyat. That year God put it into the heart of the archimandrite, the abbot of the Caves, and Theoktist began urging Prince Sviatopolk to enter Theodosius in the synodicon, God so willing. Sviatopolk was glad and promised to do it, for he knew Theodosius's way of life. Sviatopolk began to spread the story of Theodosius's life and ordered him entered in the synodicon; the metropolitan did this—he entered him in the synodicon. The metropolitan then ordered Theodosius entered in the synodicon in all the bishoprics. All the bishops entered him with joy, and they commemorate him at all the assemblies of the church. That same year Irina, Vsevolod's daughter, died on July 24. That same year they finished the top of the church of the Holy Mother of God of Blachernae at Klov, founded by Bishop Stephen, who had earlier been abbot of the Caves Monastery.

In the year 6617. Evpraksia, Vsevolod's daughter, died on July 9, and her body was laid in the Caves Monastery, by the doors that face south, and they built a chapel over her, where her body lies. In the same year, on December 2, Dmitr Ivorovich took Cuman wagons by the Don — he took 1000 wagons — having been sent by Prince Vladimir.

In the year 6618. In the spring Sviatopolk, Vladimir, and David marched against the Cumans. They reached Voin and turned back. In the same year the Cumans came […] and made war around Pereiaslav through the villages. In the same year the Cumans took captives at Chin. In that year there was a sign at the Caves Monastery on February 11: a pillar of fire appeared, from earth to heaven, and lightning lit up the whole land, and it thundered in the sky in the 1st hour of the night; the whole world saw it. The pillar stood on the stone refectory, so that the cross could not be seen. It stood a short time, then stepped onto the church and stood over the tomb of Theodosius, then stepped up over the top, as if facing east, and then became invisible. This was not fire, and not a pillar, but an angelic appearance: an angel appears in this way, now as a pillar of fire, now as a flame. As David said: “He makes his angels spirits, and his servants a flame of fire; they obey God's command, wherever the Master, Maker of all, wishes, both angels and men.” For an angel comes where there are good places and houses of prayer, and there he shows some small part of his appearance: now by fire, now by a pillar, now in another way, as far as men are able to see. For it is not possible for men to see the angelic nature; even the great Moses could not see the angelic nature: a pillar of cloud led them by day, and a pillar of fire by night — so it was not a pillar that led them, but the angel of God went before them by night and by day. So this appearance showed what was going to happen, and so it happened in the second year. Was it not this angel that became the leader against the foreigners, an adversary to them, as it is said: “An angel will go before you,” and again: “Let your angel be with you”? As the prophet David says: “For he has commanded his angels about you, to guard you.” As the wise Epiphanius writes: “To which creature an angel is appointed: an angel over the clouds and the mists, and the snow, and the hail, and the frost; an angel over sound and thunder; an angel over winter, and heat, and autumn, and spring, and the year, over all the spirit of his creation on earth, and the hidden abyss, and those concealed under the earth, and the darkness below, and those on the surface of the deep, which were of old above the earth — from which come darkness, evening, and night, and light, and day.” Angels are appointed over all creatures; in the same way an angel is appointed over each land, to guard each land, even if its people are pagans. If God's anger comes on some land, and he commands that angel to go to war against some other land, then the angel of that other land will not oppose God's command. So it was here: God, because of our sins, brought the pagan foreigners against us, and they defeated us by God's command, for they were led by an angel at God's command. But if anyone says that there is no angel among the pagans, let him hear this: when Alexander of Macedon took up arms against Darius and set out, and conquered the whole land from east to west, and defeated the land of Egypt, and defeated Aram, and came to the islands of the sea, and turned his face to go up to Jerusalem and defeat the Jews, because they were at peace with Darius — he went with all his troops, and stopped at his camp, and rested. Night came, and as he lay on his bed in the middle of the tent and opened his eyes, he saw a man standing over him with a naked sword in his hand, and the blade of the sword was like lightning. The man pointed the sword at the king's head. The emperor was terrified and said: “Do not strike me.” And the angel said to him: “God sent me to strike down the great emperors before you and their many peoples, and I go before you, helping you. Now know that you will die, because you have planned to go up to Jerusalem and do evil to God's priests and to his people.” And the king said: “I beg you, O Lord, forgive now the sin of your servant; if it is not pleasing to you, I will return to my home.” And the angel said: “Do not be afraid. Go your way to Jerusalem, and there in Jerusalem you will see a man in my likeness. Quickly fall on your face and bow down to that man, and do everything he says to you; do not go beyond his word. On the day you go beyond his word, you will die.” The emperor rose and went to Jerusalem, and when he came, he asked the priests: “Shall I go against Darius?” They showed him the books of the prophet Daniel and said to him: “You are the he-goat, and he is the ram, and you will crush him and take his kingdom.” So was it not an angel that led Alexander? And did not pagans win the victories, when all the Greeks were idol worshipers? So these pagans too are let loose because of our sins. Let this be known: among Christians there is not one angel only, but one for all who are baptized, and above all for our faithful princes; but they cannot go against God's command, and they earnestly pray to God for the Christian people. And so it happened: through the prayers of the holy Mother of God and of the holy angels, God had mercy and sent angels to help the Rus' princes against the pagans. As he said to Moses: “See, my angel will go before your face.” As we said before, this sign happened on February 11, as this year 6618 was ending.

In the year 6619. God put it into Vladimir's heart, and he began to speak to his brother Sviatopolk, urging him to move against the pagans in the spring. Sviatopolk told his retinue what Vladimir had said. They said: “It is not the time now to pull the peasants away from their field work.” Sviatopolk sent to Vladimir, saying: “Let us meet, and think about it with our retinues.” The messengers came to Vladimir and told him all of Sviatopolk's words. Vladimir came, and they met at Dolobsk. Sviatopolk sat in one tent with his retinue, and Vladimir with his. When a silence had come, Vladimir said: “Brother, you are the elder; begin to speak, how we should take thought for the land of Rus'.” Sviatopolk said: “Brother, you begin.” Vladimir said: “How can I speak, when your retinue and mine will speak against me, saying: he wants to ruin the peasants and the peasants' field work. But I am surprised, brother: you pity the peasants and their horses, and do not think of this — that in the spring that peasant will begin to plow with that horse, and a Cuman will ride up, strike the peasant with an arrow, and take the horse, and his wife, and his children, and burn his barn. Why do you not think about that?” And the whole retinue said: “Truly it is so.”

And Sviatopolk said: “Here, brother, I am ready with you.” They sent to David Sviatoslavich, calling him to come with them. Vladimir and Sviatopolk rose and kissed each other, and set out against the Cumans: Sviatopolk with his son Yaroslav, Vladimir with his sons, and David with his son. They went, placing their hope on God, and on his most pure Mother, and on his holy angels. They set out in the 2nd week of the fast, and on Friday they were on the Sula. On Saturday they moved and were on the Khorol, and there they threw away their sledges. On Sunday they moved — the Sunday on which the cross is venerated — and came to the Psol, and from there they stood on the river Golta. There the troops waited for them. From there they went to the Vorskla, and there the next day, on Wednesday, they venerated the cross and placed all their hope on the cross, with many tears. From there they crossed many rivers in the 6th week of the fast, and on Tuesday they went toward the Don. They put on armor, drew up their ranks, and went toward the town of Sharukan.

And Prince Vladimir appointed his priests to go before the army, singing the troparia and kondakia of the honored cross and the canon to the holy Mother of God. They rode toward the town in the evening, and on Sunday the people came out of the city and bowed to the Rus' princes, and brought out fish and wine, and they spent that night there. The next day, on Wednesday, they went toward Sugrov, and coming there, they set it on fire. On Thursday they went on from the Don, and on Friday the next day, March 24, the Cumans gathered, drew up their ranks, and went to battle. Our princes placed their hope on God and said: “Death awaits us here; let us stand firm.” And they kissed one another, and raising their eyes to heaven, they called on God most high. When the clash came and the battle grew fierce, God most high looked on the foreigners in anger, and they fell before the Christians. So the foreigners were defeated, and many of our enemies and foes fell before the Rus' princes and troops at the stream of Degei. And God helped the Rus' princes. And they gave praise to God that day.

The next morning, when Saturday came, they celebrated Lazarus Saturday and the day of the Annunciation, and having praised God, they kept the Saturday, and on Sunday they came on. When Monday of Holy Week came, the foreigners again gathered their armies, a great multitude; they came out like great forests, thousands upon thousands, and they surrounded the Rus' ranks. And the Lord God sent an angel to help the Rus' princes. The Cuman regiments and the Rus' regiments moved forward, and they first struck ranks, and when they met head on it cracked like thunder. The battle was fierce between them, and men fell on both sides. Then Vladimir advanced with his ranks, and David too, and the Cumans looked at them and gave their shoulders to flight. Cumans fell before Vladimir's army, struck down unseen by an angel, as many people saw: heads flew to the ground, cut off unseen. And they beat them on Passion Monday, March 27. A great multitude of the foreigners was killed at the river Salnitsa. And God saved his people.

Sviatopolk, Vladimir, and David glorified God, who had given them such a victory over the pagans, and they took much booty, and herds, and horses, and sheep, and with their own hands seized many prisoners. They questioned the prisoners, saying: “How could you, with such strength and such great numbers, not stand against us, but run away so quickly?” They answered: “How could we fight with you, when others were riding above you, in bright and fearsome armor, and they were helping you?” These were only angels, sent by God to help the Christians. For it was an angel who put into Vladimir Monomakh's heart the thought to send his brothers out against the foreigners — the Rus' princes. For, as we said, they saw the vision at the Caves Monastery, when the pillar of fire stood on the refectory, then stepped onto the church, and from there toward Gorodets; for Vladimir was at Radosyn then. And then the angel put into Vladimir's heart the resolve to begin urging them, as we said.

Therefore it is right to praise the angels, as John Chrysostom said: for they sing to the Maker without beginning, that he may be merciful and gentle to men. For the angels, I say, are our champions, who fight against the opposing powers; of these is the archangel Michael, for he withstood the devil over the body of Moses, and withstood the prince of Persia for the sake of men's freedom. By God's command they divide all creation and are set as elders to guide the nations. Through them he gave some of the Persians leave to despise them, and he commanded Michael to keep the circumcised people, and to set their boundaries in his anger — not out of sinful wrath, but from some divine, unutterable word. One of them was set over them while the Persians forced the Jews to serve; Michael brought them out to freedom and offered earnest prayer to God, saying: “Lord almighty! How long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the city of the Jews, which you have despised these seventy years?” Daniel also saw him in a vision as he flew — his face like the appearance of lightning, so to speak, his eyes like lamps, his arms and his legs like the appearance of gleaming bronze, and the sound of his word like the sound of a great multitude.

Among them is the one who turned back the donkey and made Balaam's unclean sorcery useless. Among them is the one who drew the sword against Joshua, commanding in the appearance to help him against his adversaries. Among them are those who struck down 180 thousand Syrians in one night and turned the sleep of the barbarian host into death. Among them is the one who brought the prophet Habakkuk through the air by a leap, to feed the prophet Daniel in the midst of the lions. Such are they, and so they stand out against the enemies. So too is the godlike Raphael: he cut out the entrails of a single fish, healed the girl plagued by a demon, and made the blind old man able to see the sun. Are they not then worthy of great honors, who keep watch over our life? For the angels were appointed guardians not only of the nations, as it was said: “When the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations by the number of the angels of God,” but an angel was allotted to each faithful man as well. For when the maid Rhoda told the apostles, while Peter stood at the door, that he had escaped Herod, they said, not believing her: “It is his angel.” The Lord himself bears witness to this, saying: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones: for I say to you that their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” Christ also appointed guardian angels to each church, as John reveals, saying: “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: I know your poverty and your sorrow, but you are rich.” …It is well known, then, that the angels who love us pray to the Master for us. For they are ministering spirits, as the apostle also says: “In service they are sent, for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” And they are champions and fellow fighters, as you heard today about Daniel, how the archangel Michael was brought in against the Persians in the hour of anger, for the sake of our freedom. For the people had to serve the Persians, as was said, and he strove to break the captivity. And Michael overcomes the adversary, for the Jews came to the Euphrates, and from that time received their settlement again, and built a city and a church. So too the great Epiphanius said: “An angel is appointed to every nation.” And Scripture said to Daniel: “The prince of the Greeks, and Michael the prince of the Jews”; and it also says: “And he set the ordinances by the number of the angels.”

And again, as Hippolytus says, interpreting Daniel: “In the third year of Cyrus the emperor, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks: in the first month I humbled myself, praying to God for 21 days and asking him to reveal the mystery. And having heard, the Father sent his word, showing what was to be; and it was at the great river — it was fitting for him to appear there, where he wished, and to forgive sins. I lifted my eyes and saw: see, a man clothed in purple. First he speaks of the vision as if it were the angel Gabriel flying, but it is not so: it is the appearance of the Lord himself — not the appearance of a perfect man, but appearing in the likeness of men, as he says: ‘And see, a man clothed in variegated cloth, and his loins girded with pure gold, and his body like beryl, and his face like lightning, and his eyes like lamps of fire, and his arms and shoulders like pure bronze, and his voice like the voice of a great multitude.’ And I fell on the ground, and see, something like a hand — the hand of a man, that is — touched me, and set me on my knees, and said to me: ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Do you know why I have come to you? I want to make war with the prince of Persia. But I will tell you what is written in the true writing, and no one contends with me about this except Michael, your prince. For I left him there: from the day you set yourself to pray before your God, your prayer was heard, and I was sent to make war with the prince of Persia; there was some counsel that the people should not be released, so that your prayer would be quickly fulfilled; I resisted him and left Michael, your prince, there.’ Who is Michael, if not the angel given to the people?” As he also said to Moses: “I will not go with you on the way, for this people are stiff-necked,” but “my angel goes with you.”

And so, with God's help, through the prayers of the holy Mother of God and of the holy angels, the Rus' princes returned home with great glory to their people; and the story went out to all the distant lands — that is, to the Greeks, and the Magyars, and the Poles, and the Czechs, even reaching Rome — to the glory of God, always, and now, and ever, and to the ages. Amen.

In the same year Vsevolod's princess died on October 7, and she was buried at St. Andrew's monastery. In the same year John, bishop of Chernihiv, died on November 23.

In the year 6620, indiction 5. Yaroslav, Sviatopolk's son, marched against the Yatvingians and defeated them, and coming back from the campaign, he sent to Novgorod and took Mstislav's daughter, Vladimir's granddaughter, as his wife on May 12, and she was brought to him on June 29. In the same year Vladimir's daughter Euphemia was led to the Magyars as wife for the king. In the same year David Igorevich died on May 25, and his body was laid to rest on the 29th in the church of the holy Mother of God of Blachernae at Klov. In the same year Yanka, Vsevolod's daughter, Vladimir's sister, died on November 3; she was buried at the church of St. Andrew, which her father had built; for it was there that she had taken the veil, while still a maiden. As this year was ending, they made Theoktist, abbot of the Caves, bishop of Chernihiv, on January 12, and he was enthroned on the 19th. Prince David and the princess were glad, for he was their spiritual father, and the boyars and all the people rejoiced; for the bishop before him had been sick and unable to serve, and had lain in illness for 25 years; so the prince and the people longed for a bishop's service and rejoiced, glorifying God. When this had happened, and the brothers were left without an abbot, the whole brotherhood gathered and chose Prokhor the priest as abbot among themselves, and reported him to the metropolitan and to Prince Sviatopolk. And the prince ordered the metropolitan to consecrate him with joy. He was consecrated on Thursday of Cheesefare week, February 9. And so the brothers entered the fast with their abbot.

In the year 6621. There was a sign in the sun in the 1st hour of the day, and all people could see it: little of the sun remained, like the crescent of the moon with its horns turned down, on March 19, with the moon 29 days old. Such signs do not happen for good. Signs happen in the sun and in the moon, or among the stars, not over the whole earth: whatever land a sign happens over, that land sees it, and another land does not see it. So of old, in the days of […] Antiochus, there were signs in Jerusalem: armed riders appeared dashing through the air, and the movement of weapons; that was in Jerusalem alone, and in other lands there was nothing of it. And as the sign in the sun happened, it announced Sviatopolk's death. For after that the feast of Easter came, and they kept it, and after the feast the prince fell ill. And the faithful prince Michael, called Sviatopolk, died on April 16, beyond Vyshhorod. They brought him by boat to Kyiv, and having prepared his body, they laid it on a sledge.

And the boyars wept for him, and all his retinue, singing over him the customary songs, and they laid him in the church of St. Michael, which he himself had built. His widow gave away much of her wealth to monasteries and priests, and to the poor, so that all people marveled, that no one could do such charity. The next morning, on the 17th, the Kyivans held a council and sent to Vladimir, saying: “Come, prince, to your father's and grandfather's throne.” Hearing this, Vladimir wept greatly and did not go, grieving for his brother. The Kyivans plundered the court of Putiata the chiliarch, went against the Jews, and plundered them. And the Kyivans sent again to Vladimir, saying: “Come, prince, to Kyiv; if you do not come, know that much evil will be raised up: it will not be only Putiata's court and the hundredmen's courts — they will plunder the Jews again, and then they will go against your sister-in-law, and the boyars, and the monasteries, and you will have to answer for it, prince, if they plunder the monasteries.”

Hearing this, Vladimir set out for Kyiv.

The beginning of the reign of Vladimir, son of Vsevolod. Vladimir Monomakh sat in Kyiv on a Sunday. Metropolitan Nikephoros met him with the bishops and with all the Kyivans, with great honor. He sat on the throne of his father and his grandfathers, and all the people were glad, and the unrest subsided. Hearing of Sviatopolk's death, the Cumans gathered and came to Vyr. Vladimir, gathering his sons and his nephews, went to Vyr and joined with Oleg, and the Cumans fled. In the same year he seated his son Sviatoslav in Pereiaslav, and Viacheslav in Smolensk. In the same year the abbess of the Lazarus Monastery died — holy in her life — on September 14, having lived 60 years in monasticism, and 92 years from her birth. In the same year Vladimir took Volodar's daughter as wife for his son Roman, on September 11. In the same year Mstislav laid the foundations of a stone church of St. Nicholas on the princely court, by the marketplace, in Novgorod. In the same year he seated his son Yaropolk in Pereiaslav. In the same year they consecrated Daniil bishop of Yuriev, and Nikita of Bilhorod.

In the year 6622. Sviatoslav, Vladimir's son, died on March 16, and he was buried in Pereiaslav at the church of St. Michael; for there his father had given him a throne, bringing him out of Smolensk. In the same year Mstislav laid out Novgorod, larger than before. In the same year the building of Ladoga in stone was begun, by the governor Pavel, under Prince Mstislav.

When I came to Ladoga, the people of Ladoga told me what happens here: “When a great cloud comes, our children find little glass eyes, small and large, pierced through, and others pick them up along the Volkhov, where the water washes them out.” I took more than a hundred of them, and they are of different kinds. As I was marveling at this, they said to me: “This is no wonder; there are still old men alive who have traveled beyond Yugra and beyond the Samoyed land, and saw with their own eyes in the northern lands: a cloud fell, and in that cloud a young squirrel fell, as if newly born, and when it grew, it spread over the land. And again another cloud comes, and small fawns fall in it, and they grow and spread over the land.” Pavel, governor of Ladoga, and all the people of Ladoga are my witnesses to this.

If anyone does not believe this, let him read the Chronograph. “In the reign of Probus, when there was rain and great clouds, wheat mixed with much water fell; gathering it, people filled great granaries. So too under Aurelian small pieces of silver fell, and in Africa three very great stones fell.” And after the Flood and the division of the tongues, “Mestrom of the race of Ham first began to reign; after him Jeremias, after him Feost,” whom the Egyptians also called Svarog. “While this Feost reigned in Egypt, in the time of his reign tongs fell from heaven, and he began to forge weapons; before that, people fought with clubs and stones. This Feost made a law that a woman should be married to one man and live in purity, and he ordered that those who committed adultery be punished. For this they named him the god Svarog.” “For before this time women went astray with whomever they wished, and they lived like cattle, going from one to another. If a woman bore a child, she gave it to whichever man she loved: ‘Here is your child.’ And he would hold a feast and take it. Feost destroyed this law and established that one man should have one wife, and a wife be married to one husband; whoever transgressed, they threw him into a fiery furnace.”

“For this the Egyptians named him Svarog and blessed him. And after this his son reigned, named the Sun, whom they call Dazhbog — 7 thousand and 400 and 70 days, which makes twenty years and a half. For the Egyptians had no single way of counting: some counted by the moon, and others counted by the days of the year; only later did they learn the count of 12 months, from the time when men began to pay tribute to emperors. The Sun tsar, son of Svarog, which is Dazhbog, was a strong man. He heard from someone of a certain Egyptian woman, rich and of high standing, and he wanted to commit adultery with her; he sought her, wanting to seize her. Not wanting to break his father Svarog's law, he took several of his men with him, learned the hour when the adultery was happening, and by night fell upon her — he did not find her husband with her, but found her lying with another, with whom she wished to be. He seized her, tormented her, and had her led about the land in disgrace, and struck down that adulterer. And pure living came over all the land of Egypt, and they began to praise him.” But we will not prolong the word; let us say with David: “All that the Lord willed, he did, in heaven and on earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps, raising clouds from the ends of the earth.”

For this was indeed the last land, of which we spoke at the first.

In the year 6623, indiction 8. The brothers, the Rus' princes, gathered — Vladimir, called Monomakh, son of Vsevolod, and David Sviatoslavich, and Oleg his brother — and they took counsel to move the relics of Boris and Gleb, for they had built a stone church for them, to the praise and honor of their bodies and for their laying to rest. First they consecrated the stone church on May 1, on a Saturday; the next day, on the 2nd, they moved the saints. There was a great gathering: people had come together from all lands, and Metropolitan Nikephoros with all the bishops — with Theoktist of Chernihiv, with Lazar of Pereiaslav, with the priest Nikita of Bilhorod, and with Daniil of Yuriev — and with the abbots: with Prokhor of the Caves, and with Sylvester of St. Michael, and Sava of the Holy Savior, and Gregory of St. Andrew, Peter of Klov, and the other abbots. And they consecrated the stone church. When they had sung the liturgy, they dined at Oleg's and drank, and there was great rejoicing, and they fed the poor and the travelers for 3 days.

When morning came, the metropolitan, the bishops, and the abbots put on their hierarchal vestments and lit candles with fragrant censers, and came to the tombs of the saints. They took Boris's tomb and set it on the cart, and the princes and boyars pulled it with ropes; the monks went ahead with candles, the priests after them, then the abbots, then the bishops before the tomb, and the princes carrying the tomb went between the barriers. It was not possible to move through the mass of people: they broke the barriers, and some had already climbed the walls and the ramparts, so that it was fearful to see the multitude of people. Vladimir ordered silks, coverlets, and linen cloth cut up and scattered to the people, and had another throw silver coins to them, for the people pressed so hard, so that the tomb could be carried easily into the church, and they set it in the middle of the church, and went for Gleb. In the same way they brought him too and set him beside his brother.

A quarrel arose between Vladimir, and David and Oleg: Vladimir wanted to set them in the middle of the church and to place a silver canopy over them; David and Oleg wanted to set them in the chapel, “where my father marked it out,” on the right side, where the two chapels had been built. The metropolitan and the bishops said: “Cast lots, and where the martyrs choose, there we shall set them.” This seemed good. Vladimir laid his lot, and David and Oleg theirs, on the holy table, and the lot of David and Oleg came out. They set them in that chapel, on the right side, where they lie to this day. The holy martyrs were brought on May 2 from the wooden church into the stone one at Vyshhorod. They are the glory of our princes and the defenders of the land of Rus', who cast away the glory of this world and loved Christ, choosing to walk in his footsteps — good lambs of Christ, who, dragged to slaughter, did not resist, and did not run from the death laid upon them.

Therefore they were crowned with Christ in eternal joy, and having received the gift of healing from our Savior Jesus Christ, they give it unfailingly to the sick who come with faith to their holy church — champions of their fatherland. The princes and the boyars and all the people celebrated for 3 days and praised God and the holy martyrs. And so each went home to his own place. Vladimir sheathed the tombs in silver and gold and adorned them, and he also plated the chapel with silver and gold, where the people venerate them, asking forgiveness of their sins.

In the same year there was a sign: the sun perished and became like the moon — what the ignorant call the eating of the sun. In the same year Oleg Sviatoslavich died on August 1, and the next day he was buried at the Holy Savior's, at the tomb of his father Sviatoslav. In the same year a bridge was built across the Dnieper.

In the year 6624. Vladimir marched against Gleb, for Gleb had made war on the Dregovichians and burned Sluchesk, and he did not repent of it and did not submit, but spoke out against Vladimir all the more, reviling him. Vladimir, trusting in God and in right, set out for Minsk with his sons, and with David Sviatoslavich and the Olgovichi. Viacheslav took Rsha and Kopys, and David with Yaropolk took Drutsk by storm. Vladimir himself went to Minsk, and Gleb shut himself in the town. Vladimir began to set up a wooden structure by his baggage train opposite the town. When Gleb saw it, his heart was terrified, and Gleb began to beg Vladimir, sending messengers to him. Vladimir took pity on this — that blood was being shed in the fasting days of the Great Fast — and gave him peace. Gleb came out of the town with his children and his retinue, bowed to Vladimir, and they spoke words of peace, and Gleb promised to obey Vladimir in everything. Vladimir made peace with Gleb, instructed him about everything, gave him Minsk, and returned to Kyiv. And Yaropolk built the town of Zheldi for the Druchans whom he had taken captive.

In the same year Mstislav Vladimirovich marched against the Chud with the men of Novgorod and the men of Pskov, and took their town called Bear's Head, and they took trading posts beyond number, and returned home with much booty. In the same year Leo the tsarevich, Vladimir's son-in-law, went to war against Alexios the emperor, and several towns on the Danube surrendered to him; and in the town of Dorostolon two Saracens sent by the emperor treacherously killed him, on August 15. In the same year Grand Prince Vladimir sent Ivan Voitishich, and he set governors along the Danube. In the same year Vladimir sent his son Yaropolk, and David his son Vsevolod, to the Don, and they took three towns: Sugrov, Sharukan, Balin. Then Yaropolk took for himself a very beautiful wife, the daughter of a prince of the Yas, whom he had captured. In the same year Predslava the nun, Sviatoslavna, also passed away. In the same year Viacheslav went to the Danube with Foma Ratiborich, and coming to Dorostolon, and accomplishing nothing, they turned back. In the same year the Cumans fought with the Torks and the Pechenegs at the Don; they fought for two days and two nights, and the Torks and the Pechenegs came to Rus', to Vladimir. In the same year Roman Vseslavich died.

In the same year Mstislav, Igor's grandson, died. In the same year Vladimir gave his daughter Agafia in marriage to Vsevolodko.

In the year 6625. Vladimir brought Mstislav from Novgorod, and his father gave him Bilhorod; and in Novgorod sat Mstislavich, his son, Vladimir's grandson. In the same year Vladimir marched against Yaroslav, to Volodymyr — and David Olgovich, and Volodar, and Vasilko — and they besieged him in the town of Volodymyr, and stood for 60 days, and he made peace with Yaroslav. Yaroslav submitted and bowed to the ground before Vladimir's ranks, and Vladimir instructed him about everything, ordering him to come to him “when I summon you.” And so in peace each went to his own place.

Then the Cumans came to the Bulgars, and the Bulgarian prince sent them drink mixed with poison; Aepa and the other princes drank, and all died. In that year Lazar, bishop of Pereiaslav, died on September 6. In that year the people of Bela Vezha came to Rus'. In the same year Vladimir took the granddaughter of Tugorkan as wife for Andrew. In the same year there was an earthquake, on September 26. In that year Vladimir brought Gleb out of Minsk. And he laid the foundations of a church to the martyr on the Alta. Vladimir sent his son Roman to reign in Volodymyr. In that year the emperor Alexios died, and his son John took the throne.