Attributed to Nestor the Chronicler · Complete work
1093: Vsevolod's Death and Defeat on the Stuhna
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В лѣто 6601, индикта 1 лѣто, преставися великый князь Всеволодъ, сынъ Ярославль, внукъ Володимеръ, мѣсяца априля 13 день, а погребенъ бысть 14 день, недѣли сущи тогда Страстьнѣй и дни сущу тогда четвергу великому, в онже положенъ бысть у гробѣ у велицѣй церкви святыя Софья, Сий благовѣрный князь Всеволодъ бѣ измлада любя правду и набдя убогия, и воздая честь епископомь и прозвутеромъ, излиха же любляше чернорисцѣ и подаваше требованье имъ. Бѣ же и самъ уздержася от пьяньства и похотѣ, тѣмь любимъ бѣ отцемь своимъ, яко глаголати отцю его к нему: «Сыну мой! Благо тобѣ, яко слышу о тобѣ кротость и радуюся, яко ты покоиши старость мою. Аще ти Богъ подасть прияти власть стола моего по братьи своей, с правдою, а с ненасильемь, то егда Богъ отведеть тя от житья твоего, то ту ляжеши, идѣже азъ, у гроба моего, понеже люблю тя паче братья твоея». Се же сбысться глаголъ отца его, еже глаголалъ бѣ. Сему же приемьшю послѣже всея братья столъ отца своего, и по смерти брата своего, сѣде Киевѣ княжа.
И быша ему печалѣ болшѣ паче, неже сѣдящю ему у Переяславлѣ Сѣдшю бо ему Киевѣ, печаль бысть ему о сыновцех своих, яко начаша ему стужати, хотяще властий ов сея, овъ же другоѣ, съй же, смиривая их, раздаваше волостѣ имъ. У сихъ же печали въсташа и недузи ему, и приспѣваше к нимъ старость. И нача любити смыслъ уныхъ и свѣтъ творяше с ними, си же начаша ̀и заводити и негодовати дружины своея первыя, и людемь не доходити княжѣ правдѣ. И начаша тивунѣ его грабите люди и продаяти, сему не вѣдущю у болѣзнѣхъ своихъ. И разболѣвшюся ему велми, посла по сына своего Володимера Чернѣгову. И пришедшу Володимеру, видивъ отца больна суща, плакася велми. И присѣдящю Володимеру и Ростиславу, сыну меншому его, и пришедшу же часу, прѣставися тихо и кротко и приложися ко отцемь своимъ, княживъ лѣт у Киевѣ 15, а в Переяславлѣ лѣто, а Черниговѣ лѣто. Володимер же плакався с Ростиславомъ, братомъ своимъ, спрятаста тѣло его. Собрашася епископи, игумени с черноризци, и попове, и бояре и простии людье, вземше тѣло его со обычними пѣснями и положиша у святой Софьи, якоже рекохомъ преже.
Володимеръ же нача размышляти, река: «Аще азъ сяду на столѣ отца своего, то имамъ рать со Святополкомъ узяти, яко то есть столъ отца его переже былъ». И, тако размысливъ, посла по Святополка Турову, а самь иде Чернѣгову, а Ростиславь Переяславлю.
И минувши Велику дни, и прешедше Празднѣй недѣли, въ день антипасхы, мѣсяца априля 24 день […] начало княженья Святополча у Киевѣ. Приде Святополкъ Киеву. Изидоша противу ему кияне с поклономъ и прияша с радостью, и сѣде на столѣ отца своего и стрыя своего. В се же время поидоша половцѣ на Рускую землю, слышавше яко умерлъ есть Всеволодъ, послаша послы къ Святополку о мирѣ. Святополкъ же, не здума с болшею дружиною отнею и строя своего, но свѣтъ створи с пришедшими с нимь, изоимавъ послы, всажа въ погребъ. Слышавше же се, половцѣ почаша воевати. И приидоша половцѣ мнози и оступиша Торъчьский градъ. Святополкъ же, слышавъ половцѣ, посла, прося мира, и не восхотѣша половцѣ мира, и пустиша по землѣ воююще. Святополкъ же нача сбирати воѣ, хотя на нѣ. И рѣша ему мужи смысленѣи: «Не кушайся противу имъ, яко мало имаши вой». Он же рече имъ: «Имѣю отрокъ своихъ 8 сотъ, иже могуть противу имъ стати». Начаша же друзии несмысленѣи молвити: «Поиди, княже».
Смысленыи же глаголаху: «Аще бы пристроилъ их 8 тысящь, не лихо ти есть: наша земля оскудила есть от ратий и продажь. Но пошлися къ брату своему Володимеру, дабы ти помоглъ». Святополкъ же послуша их и посла к Володимеру, дабы помоглъ ему. Володимеръ же собра вои свои и посла по Ростислава, брата своего, до Переяславля, веля ему помогати Святополку. Володимеру же пришедшю Киеву, и совокупися у святаго Михаила, и взяста межи собою распрѣ и которы, и уладившася, цѣловаста крестъ межи собою, а половцемъ воюющимъ по землѣ. И рѣша има мужѣ смысленѣи: «Почто вы распрю имата межи собою? А погании губять землю Рускую. Послѣдѣ ся смирита, а нынѣ поидита противу имъ любо с миромь, любо ратью». Володимеръ же хотяше мира, Святополкъ же хотя ратью. И поиде Святополкъ, и Володимеръ, и Ростиславь къ Треполю, и приидоша ко Стугнѣ. Святополкъ же, и Володимеръ и Ростиславъ съзваша дружину свою на свѣтъ, хотяче поступити чересъ рѣку, и начаша думати.
И глаголаше Володимеръ, яко «Сдѣ стояще чересъ рѣку, у грозѣ сей, створимъ миръ с ними». И присташа свѣту сему смысленѣи мужи, Янь и прочии. Киянѣ же не восхотѣша свѣта сего, но рекоша: «Хощемъ ся бити, поступимъ на ону сторону рѣкѣ». Излюбиша свѣто сь и преидоша Стъгну рѣку, бѣ бо тогда наводнилася велми. Святополкъ же, и Володимерь и Ростиславъ, исполчившеся, поидоша. Идяше на десной сторонѣ Святополкъ, а на шюеѣ Володимеръ, а посередѣ Ростиславъ. И, минувше Треполь, проидоша валъ. И се половцѣ идяху противу, и стрѣлци противу пред ними. Нашимъ же ставшимъ межи валома, и поставиша стяги своя, и изидоша стрилци из валу. И половци, пришедше к валови, поставиша стяги своя, налягоша первое на Святополка, и възломиша полкъ его. Святополкъ же стояше крѣпко, и побѣгоша людье, не терпяще ратныхъ противленья, и послѣже побѣже Святополкъ. И налегоша на Володимера, и бысть брань люта, и побѣже и Володимеръ с Ростиславомъ и вои его.
И прибѣгоша к рѣцѣ Стугнѣ, и въбродъ Володимеръ с Ростиславомь, и нача утапати Ростиславъ перъд очима Володимеровыма. И хотѣ подхватити брата своего и мало не втону самъ. И тако утопе Ростиславъ, сынъ Всеволожь. Володимерь же пребредъ рѣку с маломь дружины, — мнози же падоша от полка его, и боярѣ его туто падоша, — и пришедъ на ону сторону Днѣпра, плакася по братѣ своемъ и по дружини своей, иде Чернѣгову печаленъ велми. Святополкъ же убѣже во Треполь, и затворися ту, и бѣ до вечора и в ту нощь приде Кыеву. Половци же, видивше се, пустиша по землѣ воююче, а друзии узъвратишася к Торочьскому. Си же злоба соключи въ день святаго Възнесенья Господа нашего Иисуса Христа, мѣсяца маия 26. Ростислава же, искавше, обрѣтоша ̀и в рецѣ и, вземше, и принесоша ̀и Кыеву, и плакася по нѣмь мати его, и вси людье плакаша по немь повелику, уности его ради.
И собрашася епископы, и поповѣ, и чернорисцѣ, и пѣсни обычныя пѣвше, и положиша въ церкви святоѣ Софьѣ у отца своего. Половцемь же осѣдяще Торочьский, противящем же ся торокомъ и крѣпко борющимъ изъ града, убиваху многы от противныхъ. Половци же начаша налѣгати, отоимати воду, изнемогати начаша у городѣ людье жажою водною и гладомъ. И прислаша торъци […] къ Святополку, глаголюще: «Аще не пришлеши брашна, прѣдатися имамъ». Святополкъ же пославъ, и не бѣ лзѣ украстися в городъ множества ради ратныхъ. И стояше около города недѣль 9 и раздилишася надвое: едини сташа у града, рать борющю, а друзии поидоша Кыеву и пустиша на воропъ межи Кыевъ и Вышегородъ. Святополкъ же вынииде на Желяню, и поидоша обои противу собѣ и ступишася, и въкрипися брань. Побѣгоша наши предъ иноплеменнѣкы, и падаху язвенѣи предъ врагы нашими, и мнози погибоша и быша мертви, паче неже у Треполя. Святополкъ же приде Кыеву самъ третѣй, а половцѣ узъвратишася к Торочкому.
И быша же си злая мѣсяца июля 23. Навътрея же въ 24, у святою мученику Бориса и Глѣба, бысть плачь великъ у городѣ грѣхъ ради наших великихъ, за умноженье безаконий наших.
Се на ны Богъ пусти поганыя, не милуя их, но насъ казня, да быхом ся востягнули от злыхъ дѣлъ. Симь казнить ны нахоженьемь поганыхъ, се бо есть бо батъгъ Божий, да нѣколи смирившеся успомянемся от злаго пути. Сего ради во праздникы Богъ намъ наводить сѣтованье, якоже ся створи в се лѣто первое зло на Вознесенье у Треполя, 2 […] на празникъ Бориса и Глѣба, иже есть праздникъ новой рускый. Сего ради пророкъ глаголаше: «И прѣложю праздникы ваша у плачь и пѣсни ваша в рыданье». Створи бо ся плачь великъ у землѣ нашей, и опустѣша села наша и городѣ наши, и быхомъ бѣгающеи предъ враги нашими. Якоже и пророкъ глаголаше: «Падете предъ враги вашими, и поженуть вы ненавидящеи васъ, и побѣгнете, никому же не женющю по васъ. И скрушу руганье гордѣнья вашего, и будеть во тщету крѣпость ваша, и убиеть вы приходяй мѣчь, и будеть земля ваша пуста, и дворѣ ваши пустѣ будуть, яко вы зли есте и лукавѣ, и азъ поиду к вамъ яростью лукавою», — глаголеть Господь Богъ святый Израилевъ. Ибо лукавии сынове Измаилове пожигаху села и гумьна, и мьногы церкви запалиша огнемь. Да не чюдиться никтоже о сѣмь: «Идеже множество грѣховъ, ту всякого видѣнья показанье».
Сего ради вселеннаа прѣдастася, сего ради гнѣвъ простреся, сего ради земля мучена бысть: ови ведутся полоненѣ, а друзии посѣкаеми бывають, друзии на месть даеми бывають, и горкую приемлюще смерть, друзии трепещють, зряще убиваемыхъ, другии гладомъ умориваеми и водною жажею. Едино прѣщенье, едина казнь, многовещныя имуще раны и различныя печали, и страшныя мукы, — ови вязани и пятами пьхаеми, и на морозѣ держими и вкаряеми. И се пристраннѣе и страшнѣи, яко на хрѣстьяньсцѣ родѣ страхъ и колибанье и бѣда упространися. Право и достойно! Тако да накажемся и тако собѣ вѣру имемъ, кажеми есмы: подобаше бо намъ «в руцѣ преданымъ быти языку страньну и безаконьну и лукавнейшю паче всея земля». Рцѣмь велегласно: «Праведенъ еси, Господи, и праведнѣ суди твои». Рцѣмь по оному разбойнику: «Мы достойная, яже сдѣяхомъ, и прияхомъ». Рцѣмь съ Иевомъ: «Яко Господеви любо, тако и бысть: буди имя Господне благословено у вѣкы». Да нахожениемь поганыхъ мучими, Владыку познаемъ, егоже мы прогнѣвахомъ.
Прославлени бывше, не прославихом, почтени бывше, не почтохомъ, освятивьшеся, не разумѣхомъ, куплени бывше, не поработахомъ, породившеся, не яко отца постыдихомся, согрѣшихомъ и казнимы есмы. Якоже согришихомъ, тако и стражемъ: и градѣ вси опустѣша, и перейдѣмъ поля, идѣже пасома быша стада конѣ, овцѣ и волове, се все тще нынѣ видим, нивы поростьше стоять, звѣремъ жилище быша Но обаче надѣемься на милость Божью, казнѣть бо ны добрѣ благый Владыка, и «Не по безаконью нашему створи намъ и по грѣхомъ нашимъ въздалъ есть намъ», тако подобаеть благому Владыцѣ казати не по множеству грѣховъ. Тако Господь створи намъ: падшая уставить, Адамле преступленье прости, баню нетлѣнья дарова, свою кровь за ны излья. Такоже ны видѣ неправо прѣбывающа, нанесе намъ сущюю рать и скорбь, да хотяще и не хотяще и всяко в будущий вѣкъ обрящемь милость: душа бо, здѣ казнима, всяко у будущий вѣкъ обрящемь милость и лготу от мукы: не мьстить бо Господь двоичѣ о томь. О неизреченьному человѣколюбью! Якоже видити ны неволею к собѣ обращающася. Тмами любовь, яже к намъ! Понеже хотяще уклонитися от заповидѣ его.
Се уже не хотяще терпимъ с нужею, и понеже неволею, се уже волею. Кдѣ бо бѣ тогда умиленье в насъ? Нынѣ же вся полна суть слезъ. Кдѣ бѣ в насъ уздыханье? Нынѣ же плачь по всимъ улицамъ умножися избьеныхъ ради, иже избиша безаконнѣи.
Половцѣ воеваша много и възвратишася к Торъческому; изнемогоша людье въ градѣ от глада и предашася ратнымъ. Половцѣ же, приемьше градъ, запалиша огнемь, и люди раздилиша и ведоша я у вежѣ к сердоболямъ своимъ и сродникомъ своимъ; мучими зимою и оцѣпляемѣ, у алъчбѣ и в жажѣ и в бѣдѣ, побледѣвши лици и почернивше телесы, незнаемою страною, языкомъ испаленомъ, нази ходяще и босѣ, ногы имуще избодены терньемь, съ слезами отвѣщеваху другъ другу, глаголюще: «Азъ бѣхъ сего города», а другий: «И азъ сего села». И тако съвъспрошахуся со слезами, родъ свой повѣдающе, очи възводяще на небеса к Вышнему, вѣдущему тайная.
Да никтоже дерзнеть рещи, яко ненавидими Богомь есмы! Кого бо Богъ тако любить, якоже насъ узлюбилъ есть? Кого бо тако почтилъ есть, якоже насъ прославилъ есть и вънеслъ есть? Никого же! Им же паче ярость свою уздвиже на ны, якоже паче всихъ почтени бывше, горѣе всѣх съдѣяхом грѣхы. Якоже паче всѣх, просвѣщени бывше, и владычню волю вѣдуще, и презрѣвше, въ лѣпоту паче инѣхъ казними есмы. Се бо азъ грѣшный, многаи часто Бога прогнѣвахъ и часто согрѣшая бываю по вся дни.
В се же лѣто преставися Ростиславъ, сынъ Мьстиславль, внукъ Изяславля, мѣсяца октября въ 1, а погребенъ бысть мѣсяца ноября въ 16, въ церкви святыя Богородица Десятиньныя.
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 6601, in the 1st year of the indiction, the grand prince Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav, grandson of Vladimir, passed away on the 13th day of the month of April, and was buried on the 14th day, the week being then Passion Week and the day Great Thursday, on which he was laid in the tomb at the great church of Holy Sophia. This faithful prince Vsevolod had from his youth loved righteousness and watched over the poor, and he gave honor to bishops and priests; above all he loved the monks and granted them whatever they asked. He himself held back from drunkenness and from lust, and for this his father loved him, so that his father would say to him: “My son! It is well that I hear of your gentleness, and I rejoice that you give rest to my old age. If God grants you to receive power over my throne after your brothers, with righteousness and without violence, then when God takes you from your life you will lie where I lie, at my tomb, for I love you more than your brothers.” And the word of his father, which he had spoken, came to pass: for he, after all his brothers, received his father's throne, and after the death of his brother he sat as prince in Kyiv.
And his sorrows grew greater than when he sat in Pereiaslav. For once he sat in Kyiv, a grief came upon him over his nephews, for they began to press upon him, each craving power, one over one land and another over another; and he, pacifying them, distributed territories among them. Together with these sorrows infirmities rose in him, and old age drew near upon them. And he began to love the cleverness of the young and took counsel with them, and they began to lead him astray and to slight his first retinue, so that men could no longer reach the prince's justice. And his stewards began to plunder the people and sell them, while he, in his sickness, knew nothing of it. And when he fell very ill, he sent for his son Vladimir to Chernihiv. When Vladimir came and saw his father ill, he wept greatly. And as Vladimir and Rostislav, his younger son, sat by him, the hour came, and he passed away quietly and gently and was gathered to his fathers, having reigned in Kyiv 15 years, in Pereiaslav a year, and in Chernihiv a year. Vladimir, weeping with Rostislav, his brother, buried his body. The bishops gathered, the abbots with their monks, and the priests, and the boyars, and the common people, and taking up his body with the customary hymns, they laid it in Holy Sophia, as we said before.
And Vladimir began to reason, saying: “If I sit upon my father's throne, I shall have war with Sviatopolk, for that was his father's throne before.” And, so resolving, he sent for Sviatopolk to Turov, while he himself went to Chernihiv, and Rostislav to Pereiaslav.
And when the Great Day had passed and the feast week gone by, on the day of Antipascha, the 24th day of the month of April […] the beginning of Sviatopolk's reign in Kyiv. Sviatopolk came to Kyiv. The men of Kyiv went out to meet him with bows and received him with joy, and he sat upon the throne of his father and of his uncle. At that same time the Cumans marched against the land of Rus', having heard that Vsevolod was dead, and sent envoys to Sviatopolk for peace. But Sviatopolk took no counsel with the great retinue of his father's day or of his own order, but took counsel with those who had come with him, and seizing the envoys, cast them into a cellar. Hearing of this, the Cumans began to make war. And many Cumans came and besieged the town of Torchesk. Sviatopolk, hearing of the Cumans, sent to ask for peace, but the Cumans would not have peace and swept over the land making war. And Sviatopolk began to gather troops, meaning to go against them. And wise men said to him: “Do not dare to go against them, for you have few troops.” But he said to them: “I have 800 retainers of my own, and they can stand against them.” Then others, the foolish, began to say: “Go, prince.”
But the wise men said: “Even if you mustered 8 thousand of them, it would barely be enough. Our land has been worn out by wars and exactions. But send to your brother Vladimir, that he may help you.” And Sviatopolk heeded them and sent to Vladimir, to come to his help. Vladimir gathered his troops and sent for his brother Rostislav to Pereiaslav, telling him to help Sviatopolk. When Vladimir came to Kyiv they met at St. Michael's, and strife and quarrels arose between them; then, composing them, they kissed the cross before one another, while the Cumans ravaged the land. And wise men said to the two: “Why do you hold strife between yourselves? The pagans are destroying the land of Rus'. Settle it hereafter; now go against them, whether with peace or with war.” Vladimir wanted peace, but Sviatopolk wanted war. And Sviatopolk, and Vladimir, and Rostislav set out for Trepol and came to the Stuhna. And Sviatopolk, Vladimir, and Rostislav summoned their retinues to council, intending to cross the river, and began to take counsel.
And Vladimir said: “Standing here across the river, in the face of this menace, let us make peace with them.” And the wise men gave in to this counsel, Jan and the others. But the men of Kyiv would not have this counsel, and said: “We want to fight; let us cross to the other side of the river.” They chose that counsel and crossed the river Stuhna, which was then in great flood. And Sviatopolk, and Vladimir, and Rostislav formed up in battle array and marched: Sviatopolk on the right wing, Vladimir on the left, and Rostislav in the center. And passing Trepol, they went beyond the rampart. And behold, the Cumans were coming against them, with archers ahead of them. Our men, taking position between the ramparts, planted their banners, and the archers came out from the rampart. And the Cumans, coming up to the rampart, planted their banners and bore down first upon Sviatopolk and broke his regiment. Sviatopolk stood firm, but the men fled, unable to endure the enemy's onset, and after them Sviatopolk himself fled. And they bore down upon Vladimir, and the battle was fierce, and Vladimir too fled, with Rostislav and his troops.
And they came running to the river Stuhna, and Vladimir began to ford it with Rostislav, and Rostislav began to drown before Vladimir's eyes. He tried to catch hold of his brother and was nearly drowned himself. And so Rostislav, son of Vsevolod, was drowned. Vladimir crossed the river with but a small remnant of his retinue—many had fallen from his regiment, and his boyars fell there—and coming to the farther side of the Dnieper, he wept for his brother and for his retinue, and went to Chernihiv in deep grief. Sviatopolk fled to Trepol and shut himself within, and stayed till evening, and that night came to Kyiv. The Cumans, seeing this, swept over the land making war, while others turned back to Torchesk. This calamity befell on the day of the holy Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 26th of the month of May. Rostislav, when they sought him, was found in the river; they took him up and brought him to Kyiv, and his mother wept over him, and all the people wept greatly for him, for the sake of his youth.
And the bishops gathered, and the priests, and the monks, and singing the customary hymns they laid him in the church of Holy Sophia beside his father. The Cumans meanwhile besieged Torchesk; the Torks resisted, fighting fiercely from the town, and killed many of the besiegers. The Cumans began to press the siege and to cut off the water, and the people in the town began to fail from thirst and from hunger. And the Torks sent […] to Sviatopolk, saying: “If you do not send us food, we must surrender to them.” Sviatopolk sent, but there was no way to slip into the town for the multitude of the enemy. And they stood about the town 9 weeks and then divided in two: some stayed by the town, pressing the siege, while the others marched on Kyiv and sent out raiding parties between Kyiv and Vyshhorod. Sviatopolk came out to Zheliani, and the two hosts moved against each other and met, and the battle was joined. Our men fled before the strangers, 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.
And these misfortunes befell on the 23rd of the month of July. And on the morrow, on the 24th, on the feast of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, there was great weeping in the city for our great sins, and the increase of our iniquities.
God loosed the pagans upon us, having no mercy on them, but chastening us, so that we might hold back from evil deeds. With this he chastens us, by the incursion of the pagans, for this is the rod of God, so that we, humbled, may come to ourselves and turn from the evil way. Therefore at our feasts God brings mourning upon us, as this year the first evil fell on the Ascension at Trepol, 2 […] on the feast of Boris and Gleb, which is the new festival of Rus'. Therefore the prophet said: “I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs into lamentation.” And great weeping came to pass in our land, and our villages and our cities were emptied, and we became fugitives before our enemies. As the prophet also said: “You shall fall before your enemies, and those who hate you shall pursue you, and you shall flee, with no one pursuing you. And I will break the scorn of your pride, and your strength shall come to nothing, and the sword that comes shall slay you, and your land shall be made desolate, and your dwellings shall be left empty; for you are evil and wicked, and I will go against you in crooked wrath,” says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel. For the wicked sons of Ishmael were burning villages and barns, and set many churches afire with flame. Let no one marvel at this: “Where sins abound, there every kind of vision is shown forth.”
For this the world was given over, for this wrath was stretched out, for this the earth was tormented: some are led away captive, and others are cut down, and others are given over to vengeance and taste a bitter death, while others tremble at the sight of those being slain, and others are worn away by hunger and by thirst for water. One doom, one chastisement, though they bear wounds beyond number and griefs of every kind and torments terrible—some bound and driven along with kicks, held and herded in the frost. And this is stranger and more terrible still: that upon the Christian race fear and trembling and calamity have spread abroad. It is just, and it is deserved! So let us be chastened, and so let us believe of ourselves, as we are chastened: for it befitted us “to be given into the hands of a strange and lawless nation, more wicked than all the earth.” Let us say with a loud voice: “Righteous are you, O Lord, and righteous are your judgments.” Let us say with that robber: “We suffer justly what we have done.” Let us say with Job: “As it pleases the Lord, so has it come to pass: blessed be the name of the Lord forever.” And may we, tormented by the incursion of the pagans, come to know the Master whom we provoked.
Glorified, we did not give glory; honored, we did not give honor; sanctified, we did not understand; redeemed, we did not serve; begotten, we showed no reverence as for a father. We sinned, and we are chastened. As we sinned, so we suffer: the cities lie all waste, and we pass through fields where once were pastured herds of horses and sheep and oxen—all this we now see gone to nothing; the fields stand overgrown and have become the dwelling of beasts. Yet still we hope in the mercy of God, for the good Master chastens us well, and “not after our iniquities has he dealt with us, nor according to our sins has he repaid us”; thus it befits a good Master to chasten, not according to the multitude of sins. So the Lord dealt with us: he raised up the fallen, forgave Adam's transgression, bestowed the bath of incorruption, poured out his blood for us. So too, seeing that we abide in unrighteousness, he brought upon us war in earnest and sorrow, so that willingly or unwillingly we shall in any case find mercy in the age to come: for the soul chastened here shall in any case find mercy in the age to come, and respite from torment, for the Lord does not punish twice for this. O unutterable love for mankind! That he sees us turning back to him even against our will. A thousandfold is that love of his toward us! Whereas we were eager to turn aside from his commandment.
Now we endure hardship, not indeed of our own will; yet what was forced upon us has become our willing choice. For where was tenderness in us then? Now everything is filled with tears. Where was our sighing? Now weeping has multiplied through all the streets for those who were slain by the lawless.
The Cumans made many raids and turned back to Torchesk; the people in the town had grown faint with hunger and gave themselves up to the enemy. The Cumans took the town, burned it with fire, divided the people, and led them away to the tents, to their loved ones and their kinsfolk; tormented by winter and racked with cold, in hunger and thirst and affliction, their faces pale and their bodies darkened, in an unknown land, their tongues parched, walking naked and barefoot, their feet pierced with thorns, they answered one another with tears, saying: “I was of this town,” and another: “And I of this village.” And so they asked one another with tears, telling of their kin, lifting their eyes to heaven, to the Most High, who knows the things that are hidden.
Let no one dare to say that we are hated of God! For whom does God love as he has loved us? Whom has he so honored, as he has glorified and exalted us? No one! And therefore all the more he raised up his wrath against us: honored above all, we sinned more grievously than all. Enlightened above all, and knowing the will of our Master, and despising it, we are chastened more than others, as is fitting. For I, a sinner, have many a time provoked God to anger, and often fall into sin every day.
In that same year Rostislav, son of Mstislav and grandson of Iziaslav, passed away on the 1st of the month of October, and was buried on the 16th of the month of November, in the church of the Holy Mother of God, the Church of the Tithe.
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 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.