Attributed to Nestor the Chronicler · Complete work
1051–1058: The Caves Monastery and Yaroslav's Testament
1051–1058: The Caves Monastery and Yaroslav's Testament of 46. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Old East Slavic
В лѣто 6559. Постави Ярославъ Лариона митрополитомъ Руси въ святѣй Софьи, собравъ епископы.
И се да скажемъ, чего ради прозвася Печерьскый манастырь.
Боголюбивому князю Ярославу любяще Берестовое и церковь ту сущую Святыхъ апостолъ и попы многы набдящю, и в них же бѣ прозвутерь, именемь Ларионъ, мужь благъ, и книженъ и постникъ, и хожаше с Берестового на Дьнѣпръ, на холмъ, кде нынѣ ветхый манастырь Печерьскый, и ту молитвы творяше, бѣ бо лѣсъ ту великъ. Иськопа ту печеръку малу, 2-саженю, и приходя с Берестового, отпеваше часы и моляшеся ту Богу втайнѣ. Посем же возложи Богъ князю въ сердце, и постави его митрополитомъ святѣй Софьи, а си печерка тако ста. И не по мнозѣхъ днѣхъ бѣ нѣкий человѣкъ, именемь мирьскимь, от града Любча; и вьзложи сему Богъ в сердце въ страну ити. Онъ же устремися въ Святую Гору ити. И видѣ манастыря сущая ту, и вьзлюби чернѣцьскый образъ, и приде въ единъ манастырь от сущихъ ту манастыревъ, и моли игумена того, дабы на нь възложилъ образъ мнишьскый. И онъ же, послушавъ его, постриже его и нарче имя ему Аньтоний, и наказавъ его и научивъ его чернѣцкому образу, и рече ему: «Да иди опять въ Русь, и буди благословение от Святыя Горы, и мнози от тебе чернорисци будуть». И благослови его, отпусти, рекъ ему: «Иди сь миромъ».
Антоний же приде Кыеву и мышляше, кдѣ жити; и походи по манастыремь и не возлюби, Богу не хотящу. И поча ходити по дебремь и по горамъ, ища, кде бы ему Богъ показалъ. И приде на холмъ, идеже бѣ Ларионъ печеру ископалъ, и вьзлюби мьстьце се и вселися во нь, и нача молитися Богу со слезами, глаголя: «Господи! Утверди мя в мѣстьцѣ семь, и да будеть на мѣстьци семь благословение Святые Горы и моего игумена, иже мя постриглъ». И поча жити ту, моля Бога, яды хлѣбъ сухий и того чересъ день, и воды в мѣру вкушая, и копая печеру, и не дадя собѣ покоя ни день, ни нощь, въ трудѣхъ пребывая, въ бьдѣни и въ молитвахъ. По сем же уведавше добрѣи человѣцѣ и приходяху к нему, приносяще ему на потребу. И прослу же […] великий Антоний, и приходяще к нему, просяху от него благословения. По сем же, преставлешюся великому кьнязю Ярославу, и прия власть его сынъ Изяславъ и сѣде Кыевѣ. Антоний же прославленъ бысть в Руской земли. Изяславъ же, увѣдавъ житие его, и приде с дружиною своею, прося у него благословения и молитвы.
И увѣданъ бысть всими великий Антоний и честимъ, и начаша приходити к нему братья, и нача приимати и постригати я, и собрашася братья к нему яко числомъ 12, иськопаша печеру велику, и церковь, и кѣлья, яже суть и до сего дни в печерѣ подъ ветхымъ манастыремь.
Совокуплени же братьи, рече имъ Антоний: «Се Богъ васъ съвокупи, братье, от благословения есте Святыя Горы, иже постриже мене игуменъ Святыя Горы, а я васъ постригалъ; да буди на васъ благословение первое от Бога, а второе от Святыя Горы». И се рекъ имъ […]: «Живете о собѣ, поставлю вы игумена, и самъ хощю въ ину гору сѣсти одинъ, якоже и преже бяхъ обыклъ, уединився». И постави имъ игумена именемь Варламъ, а самъ иде в гору, ископа печеру, яже есть под новымъ манастыремь, в ней же и сконча животъ свой, живъ въ добродѣтели и не выходя ис печеры лѣт 40 николиже никаможе, в нейже лежать мощи его и до сего дни. Братья же и игуменъ живяху в печерѣ. И умножившимся братьи и не могущимъ имъ вмѣститися в печеру, и помыслиша поставити внѣ печеры манастырь. И приде игуменъ и братья ко Аньтонию и рекоша ему: «Отче! Умножилося братьи, а не можем ся въмѣстити в печерѣ. Да бы Богъ повелѣлъ и твоя молитва, да быхомъ поставилѣ церквицю малу внѣ печеры». И повелѣ имъ Аньтоний.
Они же поклонишася ему и поставиша церьквицю малу надъ печерою во имя святыя Богородица Успение. И нача Богъ умножати черноризѣць молитвами святыя Богородица, и свѣтъ створиша братья съ игуменомъ поставити манастырь. И рѣша братья […] къ Антонию: «Отче! Братья умножаеться, а хотѣлѣ быхомъ поставити манастырь». Антоний же, рад бывъ, рче: «Благословенъ Богь о всемь, и молитвами святыя Богородица и сущихъ отець, иже въ Святѣй Горѣ, да будеть с вами». И се рекъ, посла единаго от братья къ Изяславу князю, река тако: «Княже мой! Се Богъ умножаеть братью, а мѣстце мало; да бы ны вдалъ гору ту, яже есть надъ печерою». Изяславъ же, се слышавъ, радъ бывъ и мужи свои посла и дасть имъ гору ту. Игуменъ же и братья заложиша церковь велику, и манастырь оградиша столпъемь, и кѣлья поставиша многы, и церковь свѣршиша и украсиша ю иконами. И оттолѣ начаша звати манастырь Печерьскый, имже бѣша жили черньци преже в печерѣ, и от того прозвася Печерьскый манастырь.
Есть же Печерьскы манастырь от благословения Святыя Горы пошелъ.
Манастыреви же свершену, игуменьство же держащю Варламу, Изяславъ же постави манастырь святаго Дмитрѣя, и выведе Варлама на игуменьство кь святому Дмитрею, хотя створити выший сего манастыря, надѣяся богатствѣ. Мнозии бо манастыри от цесарь и от бояръ и от богатства поставлени, но не суть таци, кации же суть поставлени слезами, и пощениемь, и молитвою, и бдѣниемь. Антоний бо не имѣ злата, ни сребра, но стяжа пощениемь и слезами, якоже глаголахъ. Варламу же шедшю кь святому Дмитрѣю, и свѣтъ створше братья, идоша кь старцю Аньтонию и рекоша: «Постави намъ игумена». Онъ же рче имъ: «Кого хощете?» Они же рѣша ему: «Кого хощеть Богъ и ты». И рече: «Кто болий есть в вас, акь есть Федосий: послушливъ, и кротокъ, и смиреный, да сьй будеть игуменъ вамъ». Братья же ради бывше и поклонишася старцю, и поставиша Федосья игуменомъ братии сущей числомъ 20.
Федосьеви же приимшю манастырь, и поча имѣти вьздержание велико, пощение и молитвы сь слезами, и совокупляти нача многы черьноризци, и совокупи братьии числомъ 100. И нача иськати правила чернечьскаго, и обрѣтеся тогда Михаилъ, чернѣць манастыря Студискаго, иже бѣ пришелъ изь Грѣкь с митрополитомъ Георгиемь, и нача у него искати устава черьнець студийскых. И обрѣтъ у него, и списа, и устави въ манастыри своемъ, как пѣти пѣния манастырьская и поклонъ како держати, и чтения почитати, и стояние въ церкви, и весь рядъ церковьный, на тряпезѣ сѣдание, и что ясти въ кыя дни, все съ уставлениемь. Федосий все то приобрѣтъ и предасть манастырю своему. От него же манастыря прияша вси манастырѣ уставъ по всемь манастыремь: тѣмже почтенъ есть манастырь Печерьскый старѣй всихъ и честью боле всихъ.
Федосьеви же живущю в манастырѣ и правящю добродѣтелное житье и чернѣцьское правило, и приимающе всякого приходящего к нему, к нему же и азъ придохъ, худый и недостойны рабъ, и приять мя лѣтъ ми сущю 17 от рожения моего. Се же написахъ и положихъ, и в кое лѣто почалъ быти манастырь, и что ради зоветься Печерьскый манастырь. А о Федосьевѣ житьи паки скажемь.
В лѣто 6560. Преставися Володимѣрь, сын Ярославль старѣйший, в Новѣгородѣ и положенъ бысть въ святѣй Софьи, юже бѣ самъ создалъ.
В лѣто 6561. У Всеволода родися сынъ Володимиръ от цесарицѣ грѣчькое.
В лѣто 6562. Преставися великый князь рускый Ярославь. И еще живу сущю ему, наряди сыны своя, рекы имъ: «Се азъ отхожю свѣта сего, а вы, сыновѣ мои, имѣйте межи собою любовь, понеже вы есте братья одиного отца и единой матере. Да аще будете в любви межи собою, и Богъ будеть в васъ и покорить вы противныя подь вы. И будете мирно живуще. Аще ли будете ненавистьно живуще, въ распряхъ, которающеся, то и сами погибнете, и землю отець своихъ и дѣдъ погубите, иже налѣзоша трудомъ великомъ; но послушайте братъ брата, пребывайте мирно. Се же поручаю в себе мѣсто столъ свой старѣйшому сынови своему, брату вашему Изяславу — Кыевъ, сего послушайте, якоже послушасте мене, да ть вы будеть въ мене мѣсто. А Святославу — Черниговъ, а Всеволоду — Переяславль, а Вячеславу — Смолнескь». И тако раздѣли городы, заповѣдавъ имъ не преступати предѣла братня, ни сгонити, рекь Изяславу: «Аще кто хощеть обидити своего брата, то ты помогай, егоже обидять», И тако наряди сыны своя пребывати в любви. Самому же болну сущю и пришедшю ему к Вышегороду, разболѣся велми. Изяславу тогда в Туровѣ князящю, а Святославу въ Володимерѣ, а Всеволодъ тогда у отца, бѣ бо любимъ отцемь паче всея братья, егоже имяше у себе.
Ярославу же приспѣ конѣць житья, и предасть душю свою мѣсяца февраля въ 20, в суботу 1 недели поста, въ святаго Федора день. Всеволодъ же спрята тѣло отца своего, вьзложивъ на сани и повезоша Кыеву, поповѣ по обычаю пѣсни пѣвше, и плакашеся по немь людье. И принесъше и положиша ̀и в рацѣ мороморянѣ въ церкви святѣй Софья. И плакася по немь Всеволодъ и людье вси. Житъ же всѣхъ лѣтъ Ярославъ 70 и 6.
Начало княжения Изяславля въ Киевѣ. В лѣто 6563, пришедъ, Изяславъ сѣде Кыевѣ, а Святославъ в Черниговѣ, Всеволодъ же в Переяславлѣ, Игорь в Володимерѣ, Вячеславъ въ Смолѣньсцѣ. В тое же лѣто иде Всеволодъ на торкы зимѣ къ Воиню и побѣди торкы. Того же лѣта приходи Болушь с половци, и створи Всеволодъ миръ с ними, и вьзвратишася вьсвояси.
Въ лѣто 6564.
Въ лѣто 6565. Преставися Вячеславъ, сынъ Ярославль, Смоленьский. И посадиша Игоря въ Смолѣньсцѣ, изъ Володимеря выведше.
В лѣто 6566. Побѣди Изяславъ голядь.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Old East Slavic text of the Hypatian Codex (O. V. Tvorogov’s 1997 edition, pinned Russian Wikisource revision), covering the undated introduction and every annal from 6360 to 6625 (852–1117 CE). Worker drafts were checked against the source paragraph by paragraph before publication. Years keep the chronicle’s own reckoning from the creation of the world; subtract 5508 for the approximate year CE, as the chapter titles do.
In the year 6559. Yaroslav, having gathered the bishops, appointed Hilarion metropolitan of Rus' in St. Sophia.
And now let us tell why the Caves Monastery came to be so named.
The God-loving prince Yaroslav loved Berestovo, and the church of the Holy Apostles that stood there, and he kept many priests in its service. Among them was a priest named Hilarion, a good man, learned and given to fasting; and he would walk out from Berestovo to the Dnieper, to the hill where the old Caves Monastery now stands, and there he offered up his prayers, for it was a great forest there. He dug for himself a small cave there, 2 sazhens, and coming out from Berestovo he would chant the hours and pray to God there in secret. Afterward God laid it upon the prince's heart to raise him up and appoint him metropolitan of St. Sophia, and this little cave so remained. Not many days after, there was a certain man, a man of the world, from the town of Liubech; and God laid it upon his heart to go abroad. He set his course to go to the Holy Mountain. And he saw the monasteries that stood there, and grew to love the monastic habit, and came to one of the monasteries there and begged its abbot to lay the monastic habit upon him. And the abbot, hearing him, tonsured him and gave him the name Anthony; and having instructed and taught him in the monastic rule, he said to him: “Go back again to Rus', and let the blessing of the Holy Mountain go with you, and many monks shall come of you.” And he blessed him and let him depart, saying to him: “Go in peace.”
Anthony came to Kyiv and pondered where he should live; and he went about the monasteries, and did not love them, God not willing it. And he began to walk through the wilds and over the hills, seeking where God would show him a place. And he came to the hill where Hilarion had dug his cave, and loved the spot and made his dwelling in it, and began to pray to God with tears, saying: “Lord! Confirm me in this place, and let the blessing of the Holy Mountain and of my abbot who tonsured me rest upon this place.” And he began to live there, praying to God, eating dry bread, and that only every other day, tasting water in measure, and digging out his cave, and giving himself no rest by day or by night, abiding in labors, in vigil and in prayers. After this, good men came to know of him and began to come to him, bringing him what he needed. And when the great Anthony had won renown […], those who came to him asked his blessing. After this the great prince Yaroslav died, and his son Iziaslav received his power and sat in Kyiv. And Anthony was glorified in the land of Rus'. And Iziaslav, having learned of his manner of life, came with his retinue to ask his blessing and his prayers.
And the great Anthony became known to all and was held in honor, and brethren began to come to him, and he began to receive them and to tonsure them, and the brethren gathered to him, 12 in number, and they dug a great cave, and a church, and cells, which stand to this day in the cave beneath the old monastery.
When the brethren were gathered together, Anthony said to them: “Behold, God has gathered you together, brethren. You are of the blessing of the Holy Mountain: the abbot of the Holy Mountain tonsured me, and I have tonsured you; let the blessing rest upon you, first from God, and second from the Holy Mountain.” And having said this to them […]: “Live together; I will set an abbot over you, and I myself wish to go up into another hill and sit alone, as I was accustomed to do before, in seclusion.” And he set over them an abbot named Varlaam, and went himself to the hill, and dug the cave that is beneath the new monastery, and in it he ended his life, living in virtue and never once in 40 years going out of the cave, nor anywhere; in it his relics lie to this day. The brethren and the abbot lived meanwhile in the cave. And when the brethren had multiplied and could no longer all be housed in the cave, they resolved to build a monastery outside the cave. And the abbot and the brethren came to Anthony and said to him: “Father! The brethren are multiplied, and we cannot all be housed in the cave. If God commands it and your prayer sanctions it, let us build a little church outside the cave.” And Anthony bade them do so.
They bowed before him, and built a little church above the cave, in honor 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 brethren, with the abbot, resolved to build a monastery. And the brethren said […] to Anthony: “Father! The brethren are multiplying, and we should wish to build a monastery.” And Anthony, rejoicing, said: “Blessed be God in all things; and through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God, and of the fathers who are on the Holy Mountain, may it be with you.” And having said this, he sent one of the brethren to Prince Iziaslav with this message: “My prince! Behold, God multiplies the brethren, and the place is small; give us, then, that hill which lies above the cave.” And Iziaslav, hearing this, rejoiced, and sent his men, and gave them the hill. And the abbot and the brethren laid the foundations of a great church, and fenced the monastery about with a stockade, and built many cells, and finished the church and adorned it with icons. And from that time they began to call it the Caves Monastery, because the monks had dwelt before in the cave; and from that the Caves Monastery took its name.
The Caves Monastery, then, took its beginning from the blessing of the Holy Mountain.
When the monastery was finished, and Varlaam held the abbacy, Iziaslav founded the monastery of St. Demetrius and took Varlaam from the Caves to be abbot of St. Demetrius, wishing to raise up a monastery higher than this one, trusting in his wealth. Many are the monasteries founded by emperors, and by boyars, and by riches, but they are not such as those founded by tears, and fasting, and prayer, and vigil. Anthony had no gold and no silver, but he won all by fasting and by tears, as I have said. When Varlaam had gone to St. Demetrius, the brethren took counsel and went to the elder Anthony and said: “Set an abbot over us.” And he said to them: “Whom do you wish?” They said to him: “Whom God wills, and you.” And he said: “Who is the best among you? It is Theodosius: obedient, and meek, and humble. Let him be your abbot.” And the brethren rejoiced, and bowed before the elder, and made Theodosius abbot over the brotherhood, which numbered 20.
When Theodosius had received the monastery, he began to keep great discipline, and fasting, and prayer with tears, and began to gather many monks, and he assembled a brotherhood 100 in number. And he began to seek a monastic rule; and there was then found Michael, a monk of the Studite monastery, who had come out of Greece with Metropolitan George, and he began to ask of him the rule of the Studite monks. And he found it with him, and copied it, and established it in his own monastery: how the monastic hymns were to be sung, and how the bows were to be made, and the readings read, and the standing in church, and the whole order of the church service, and the seating at table, and what to eat on which days—all set forth with ordinance. All this Theodosius obtained, and handed on to his monastery. From that monastery all monasteries received the rule for every monastery: therefore the Caves Monastery is honored as the eldest of all, and in honor above all.
While Theodosius lived in the monastery, leading the life of virtue and the monastic rule, and receiving every one who came to him—to him came I also, a poor and unworthy servant, and he received me, when I was 17 years old from my birth. This have I written and set forth: in what year the monastery began to be, and why it is called the Caves Monastery. But of Theodosius' life we shall speak again.
In the year 6560. Vladimir, the eldest son of Yaroslav, 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 of the Greek princess.
In the year 6562. The grand prince of Rus', Yaroslav, died. And while he still lived he instructed his sons, saying to them: “Behold, I go out of this world; and you, my sons, keep love among yourselves, for you are brothers of one father and of one mother. If you will abide in love among yourselves, God will be in you, and will subdue your enemies beneath you, and you will live in peace. But if you will abide in hatred, in strife and quarreling, then you will perish yourselves, and lose the land of your fathers and grandfathers, which they won by great labor; therefore obey one another, brother to brother, and dwell in peace. This I entrust in my place: my throne to my eldest son, your brother Iziaslav—Kyiv. Him obey, as you have obeyed me, and let him stand to you in my place. To Sviatoslav—Chernihiv; to Vsevolod—Pereiaslav; to Viacheslav—Smolensk.” And so he divided the cities among them, charging them not to overstep a brother's bounds, nor to drive him out, and saying to Iziaslav: “If anyone would wrong his brother, then you must help him who is wronged.” And so he instructed his sons to abide in love. And as he lay ill, and had come to Vyshhorod, he fell grievously sick. Iziaslav was then reigning 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.
And the end of Yaroslav's life came upon him, and he gave up his soul in the month of February on the 20th, on the Saturday of the 1st week of the fast, on the day of St. Theodore. And Vsevolod made ready his father's body, and laid it upon a sledge, and they bore it to Kyiv, the priests singing hymns after their custom, and the people wept for him. And they brought him and laid him in a coffin of marble in the church of St. Sophia. And Vsevolod wept for him, and all the people. And Yaroslav lived in all 76 years.
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 the same year Bolush came with the Cumans, and Vsevolod made peace with them, and they went back to their own.
In the year 6564.
In the year 6565. Viacheslav, the son of Yaroslav, prince of Smolensk, died. And they set Igor in Smolensk, leading him out of Volodymyr.
In the year 6566. Iziaslav defeated the Goliad.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same Old East Slavic text of the Hypatian Codex, paragraph for paragraph, and checked against the source before publication.
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.