Kurent and man contended which should rule the earth. Neither Kurent
would yield to man nor man to Kurent, for he (man) was so
gigantic--he wouldn't even have noticed it, if nine of the people of
the present day had danced up and down his nostrils. 'Come,' said
Kurent, 'let us see which is the stronger; whether it is I or you
that is to rule the earth. Yonder is a broad sea; the one that
springs across it best shall have both the earth and all that is on
the other side of the sea, and that is, in faith, a hundred times
more valuable than this wilderness.' Man agreed. Kurent took off his
coat and jumped across the sea, so that just one foot was wetted
when he sprang on to dry land. Now he began to jeer at the man; but
the man held his tongue, didn't get out of temper, neither did he
take off his coat, but stepped without effort and quite easily over
the sea, as over a brook, and came on to dry land without even
wetting a foot. 'I'm the stronger,' said man to Kurent; 'see how my
foot is dry and yours is wet.' 'The first time you have overcome
me,' answered Kurent; 'yours are the plains, yours is the sea, and
what is beyond the sea; but that isn't all the earth, there is also
some beneath us and above us; come, then, let us see a second time
which is the stronger.' Kurent stood on a hollow rock, and stamped
on it with his foot, so that it burst with a noise like thunder, and
split in pieces. The rock broke up, and a cavern was seen where
dragons were brooding. Now the man also stamped, and the earth
quaked and broke up right to the bottom, just where pure gold flowed
like a broad river, and the dragons fell down and were drowned in
the river. 'This trial, too, is yours,' said Kurent; 'but I don't
acknowledge you emperor till you overpower me in a third fierce
contest. Yonder is a very lofty mountain. It rises above the clouds;
it reaches to the celestial table, where the cock sits and watches
God's provisions. Now, then, take you an arrow and shoot, and so
will I; the one which shoots highest is the stronger, and his is the
earth, and all that is beneath and above it.' Kurent shot, and his
arrow wasn't back for eight days; then the man shot, and his arrow
flew for nine days, and when, on the tenth day, it fell, the
celestial cock that guarded God's provisions fell also, spitted upon
it. 'You are emperor,' said cunning Kurent. 'I make obeisance to
you, as befits a subject.' But the man was good-natured, and made a
covenant of adoptive brotherhood with Kurent, and went off to enjoy
his imperial dignity. Kurent, too, went off, but he was annoyed that
the man had put him to shame; where he could not prevail by
strength, he determined to succeed by craft. 'You are a hero, man,'
he would say, 'I am witness thereto; but beware of me, if you are a
hero also in simplicity; I go to bring you a gift, that I have
devised entirely by myself.'
He said and squeezed the vine, his stick, and pure red wine burst
out of it. 'Here's a gift for you; now, then, where are you?' He
found the man on the earth the other side of the sea, where he was
enjoying a bowl of sweet stirabout. 'What are you doing, my lord?'
said Kurent. 'I've mixed a bowl of stirabout from white wheat and
red fruit, and, see, here I am eating it and drinking water.' 'My
poor lord! you are emperor of the world and drinking water! hand me
a cup, that I may present you with better drink, which I, your
humble servant, have prepared for you myself.' The man was deceived,
took the cup with red wine, and drank some of it. 'Thank you,
adopted brother; you are very kind, but your drink is naught.'
Kurent was disgusted, went off again, and thought and thought how to
cheat the man. Again he squeezed his stick, again red wine burst
forth from it, but Kurent did not allow it to remain pure, but the
rascal mixed hellebore with it, which Vilas and prophetesses pluck
by moonlight to nourish themselves with. A second time he went in
search of the man, and found him at the bottom of the earth, where
the pure gold was flowing like a broad river. 'What are you doing,
my lord?' asked Kurent. 'I am getting myself a golden shirt, and I
am tired and very thirsty; but there's no water here, and it's a
long way to the world--seven years' journey.' 'I am at your
service,' said Kurent; 'here's a cup of wine for you; better never
saw the red sun.' The man was deceived, took it, and drank it up.
'Thank you, Kurent; you are good, and your drink is good, too.'
Kurent was going to pour him out a fresh cupful, but the man would
not allow it, for his nature was still sober and sensible. Kurent
was disgusted, and went off to see whether he could not devise
something better. For the third time he squeezed his stick; wine
burst out more strongly, but this time it did not remain pure nor
without sin. The rascal applied an arrow, opened a vein and let some
black blood flow into the wine. Again he went in search of the man,
and found him on the high mountain at God's table, where he was
feasting on roast meat, which had not been roasted for him, but for
God himself. 'What are you doing, my lord?' asked Kurent in
amazement and joy, when he saw that the man was sinning abominably.
'Here I am, sitting and eating roast meat; but take yourself off,
for I am afraid of God, lest he should come up and smite me.' 'Never
fear!' was Kurent's advice; 'how do you like God's roast meat?'
'It's nice, but it's heavy. I can scarcely swallow it.' 'I am at
your service,' said Kurent; 'here is wine for you, the like of which
isn't on earth or in heaven, but only with me.' The third time the
man was deceived, but cruelly. 'Thank you, Kurent,' he said; 'you
are good, but your drink is better; draw me some more, as becomes a
faithful servant.' Kurent did so, and the man's eye became dim and
his mind became dim, and he thought no more of God, but remained at
table. Suddenly God returned, and seeing the man dozing and eating
roast meat at his table, became angry, and smote him down the
mountain with his mighty hand, where he lay, half dead, for many
years, all bruised and hurt. When he got well again his strength had
diminished; he could neither step across the sea, nor go down to the
bottom of the earth, nor uphill to the celestial table. Thus Kurent
ruled the world and man, and mankind have been weak and dwarfed from
that time forth.