There was here once in our village a certain Avstriyat, who was such
a wizard that he could cause rain or hail to pass away when he
chose. It happened that we were cutting corn in the country; a cloud
came up. We began to hurry off the sheaves, but he took no notice,
cut and cut away by himself, smoked his pipe, and said: 'Don't be
frightened--there'll be no rain.' Lo and behold, there was no rain.
Once--all this I saw with my own eyes--we were cutting rye, when the
sky became black, the wind rose: it began to whistle at first afar
off, then over our very heads. There was thunder, lightning,
whirlwind--such a tempest, that--O God! Thy will be done! We went
after our sheaves, but he--'Don't be frightened, there'll be no
rain.' 'Where won't it be?' We didn't hearken to him. But he smoked
his pipe out, and cut away quietly by himself. Up came a man on a
black horse, and all black himself: he darted straight up to
Avstriyat: 'Hey! give permission!' said he. Avstriyat replied: 'No,
I won't!' 'Give permission; be merciful!' 'I won't. It would be
impossible to get such a quantity in.' The black horseman bowed to
the man, and hastened off over the country.
Then the black cloud became gray and whitened. Our elders feared
that there would be hail. But Avstriyat took no notice. He cut the
corn by himself and smoked his pipe. But again a horseman came up;
he hastened over the country still quicker than the first. But this
one was all in white, and on a white horse. 'Give permission!' he
shouted to Avstriyat. 'I won't!' 'Give permission, for God's sake!'
'I won't. It wouldn't be possible to get such a quantity in.' 'Hey!
give permission; I can't hold out!' Then, and not till then, did
Avstriyat relent. 'Well, then, go now, but only into the glen, which
is beyond the plain.' Scarcely had he spoken, when the horseman
disappeared, and hail poured down as out of a basket. In the course
of a short hour it filled the glen brimful, level with the banks.
_GREAT RUSSIAN STORIES._
Here I have but little to remark that has not already been noticed
by Mr. Ralston. In No. 33 I have given a pretty variant of Grimm's
'Fisherman's Wife.' In this story, which is from the Government of
Moscow, there is a curious confusion between 'king' (_korol_), and
'emperor' (_tzar_). The peasant asks to be made _korol_ 'king,' but
is answered that an 'emperor' (_tzar_) is chosen by God. The King of
Poland was formerly the mighty potentate west of Moscow, which
emerged from Tartar bondage under a grand-duke, or grand-prince.
This confusion may possibly imply that the story was crystallized in
its present form not long after the assumption of the imperial
dignity by the ruler of Muscovy.
As to No. 34, Mr. Ralston, in his 'Songs of the Russian People,'
gives an account of the manner in which Ilya of Murom obtained a
vast accession of strength from the still mightier hero Svyatozor
(pp. 58-63). By his exploits, however, in the story which I have
given, Ilya appears to have already possessed strength enough for
most purposes.