For thirty years Ilya sat upon the stove in his mother's cottage,
for he was a helpless cripple without arms or legs, and really of
no use to any one, either in the house or out of it. But when these
quiet years were past and over, Ilya came to his own, as you shall see.
One summer day his father and mother took down the wooden rakes and
went out into the sunny meadow round which the tall pines stood to
help to make the hay; and Ilya was left alone in the cottage with
his thoughts.
All at once he heard a deep voice at the door which said, "In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." "Amen,"
responded Ilya at once, and three wayfarers entered after bowing at
the threshold. They were old and venerable, and Ilya knew them at
once to be singers of holy psalms, who never lacked food and drink
among the peasants whose lives they cheered. So, when they asked him
for something to drink, he spoke gently to them, partly, however,
because he feared the result of their displeasure.
"Venerable masters," he said, "whatever is within the house is yours,
but, to my sorrow, I cannot rise to wait upon you." Then the holy men
looked steadily at him, and before their steadfast gaze Ilya's eyes
fell in humility as before the Holy Cross; and as he looked downwards
they said to him, "Arise and wash yourself, for you shall be able to
walk and to wait upon us."
Somehow, Ilya seemed to obey them in spite of himself. He got down
from the stove and walked with the legs of a full-grown man of mighty
stature. Then stretching out his brawny arms he took the cup, filled it
with the drink of the rye, and offered it to the holy guests on bended
knee. They took it from him, drank one after the other, and gave it
to him again, saying, "Drink in your turn, Ilya." The young man obeyed
without a word, and then awaited the further pleasure of the visitors.
"Ilya, son of weakness," they said, "how is it with your strength?"
"I thank you with reverence, venerable sirs," he replied, bowing low
before them, "my strength is now such as could surely move the earth."
The old men turned from him and regarded each other with a look of
wisdom so pure and clear and like a shaft of brightest sunlight that
Ilya's eyes sought the earthen floor of the cottage once again.
Then one of the guests, who seemed to be the leader, said in a quiet
voice of authority, "Give us to drink once more," and Ilya obeyed
without question. "Drink now yourself, Ilya," they said, and he did so.
"Ilya, son of weakness," they said, "how is it now with your strength?"
"I thank you with reverence, venerable sirs," he said, "my strength
is great, but only half the strength I had."
"That is well," said the old men; "if it were greater, then moist
Mother Earth would be too frail to bear you."
Then the old men told Ilya to go out into the summer sunlight, and
he walked out of the cottage for the first time, followed by his
deliverers; and there, standing in the light, the young man received
his blessing and his charge.
"Ilya, son of strength," they said, "it is God Himself who has redeemed
you from weakness. Therefore you are bound to defend the faith of
Christ against all unbelievers, however bold and daring they may be,
remembering always that it is not written that you should come to
your death in battle.
"In the whole white world there is none stronger than you except
Svyatogor, whom you will meet before long. Avoid conflict with him,
and him alone; do not spend your strength on the soil or the meadow
or the forest, but set out without delay for the royal city of Kiev."
Having spoken these words, the old men vanished, and Ilya did not
see either how or where they went. He only knew that he stood alone
in the light of the sun, and he stretched out his great arms as if
he had just awakened from a long refreshing sleep.
Then the young giant went to seek his father and mother, and found
them resting in the shade of the pine trees by the side of the
meadow. The whole company was asleep, and taking up one of their
axes, Ilya began to hew at the trunks of the pines. It is a matter
for wonder that the sound of the crashing trunks which was soon heard
did not immediately awake the sleepers, for the young man laid about
him lustily during the space of an hour, and at the end of that time
had felled a small wood about the extent of a field; which is really
not so very marvellous after all, seeing that he had been storing up
strength for thirty years. When he had finished this work he drove
all the axes lying near the sleepers into a tree-stump with a quiet
laugh. "Ah," he said to himself, "they must ask me for these axes if
they wish to use them again."
After a while the young man's parents and their labourers awoke from
sleep, for by his tree-felling Ilya had taken away the shade, and the
hot sunlight was now beating full upon their faces. With blinking
eyes they looked around, and when they saw the fallen timber and
the axes deeply embedded in the stump of a tree, they began somewhat
slowly to be filled with very great wonder, and said to one another,
"Who has done this?"
Then Ilya came out of the forest where he had been hiding and enjoying
their awakening. The men were now trying in vain to draw out the
axes, and he took them easily from the stump, and handed them to
the wondering servants without a word being spoken on either side;
for the labourers were too much dazed to break the silence by speech.
For a few moments the father and mother gazed at the tall young man,
the eyes of the former dwelling upon his stature, his strong limbs,
and his mighty shoulders, while the mother gazed steadfastly at the
face of her son, which was radiant with a wonderful light. Then,
clasping his hands and closing his eyes, the old man gave thanks to
God that he should be the father of so splendid a workman; but Ilya
showed no sign of continuing in his peasant's task, for with a low
bow of reverence to his parents, he strode away without a word across
the open plain.
His mother watched him go in silence, and then she bowed her head as
before the Holy Cross; for the light which she had seen in the young
man's eyes never shone in the eyes of a woodman or of one content to
spend the summer day making hay in the pine-encircled meadow.
Now, as Ilya went on his way he saw a peasant walking heavily across
a field, leading a shaggy brown foal, and, in spite of his manhood,
this was the first foal that Ilya had ever seen. He suddenly felt a
great desire to have this shaggy steed for himself, and having money
in his pocket--though how it had got there he could not tell--he soon
made the purchase. He paid little attention to the price asked by the
greedy, crafty peasant, which was large enough as a plain matter of
horse-dealing, for Ilya was no bargain driver.
"Now," he said to himself, as he patted the shaggy mane of the
little horse, "I must take three months to make this brown foal into
a charger; so for that time, at least, I must dwell at home." He
therefore turned back to his father's cottage, and, to the quiet
delight of his mother, lived there for the time he had appointed. Ilya
did not think out his plans for himself at this time, but had a curious
feeling that his way was being made plain before him without his will.
The foal was at once tied up in the beast-stall in his father's stable,
and fed on the finest white Turkish wheat to the great surprise of
the old man, who, however, made no remark, for the strange things
now happening in his household were rather too much for him. When the
shaggy brown foal had been fed for three months in this careful and
very extravagant way, Ilya left it for three nights in the garden
so that the Powers of Heaven might anoint it with three successive
dews. After this, he made a trial of the horse, which was now very
strong and frisky, and found that it had become a truly heroic charger,
capable of trotting and galloping, and while full of fire and spirit,
obedient to its master's lightest word. To this charger Ilya gave
the name of Cloudfall, and he now made preparations for setting out
on his adventures.