One day, somewhere near Kíev, a dragon appeared, who demanded heavy
tribute from the people. He demanded every time to eat a fair maiden:
and at last the turn came to the Tsarévna, the princess. But the dragon
would not eat her, she was too beautiful. He dragged her into his den
and made her his wife. When he flew out on business, he used to pile
logs of wood in front of the den to prevent the Tsarévna escaping. But
the Tsarévna had a little dog that had followed her all the way from
home. When she wrote a letter to her father and mother she used to tie
it to the neck of her little dog, which would run all the way home and
bring an answer back. One day her parents wrote to her: “Try to discover
any one who is stronger than the dragon.” The Tsarévna got every day on
more intimate terms with her dragon in order to discover who was
stronger. At last he owned that Nikíta, the tanner at Kíev, was the
stronger. So the Tsarévna at once wrote to her father: “Look for Nikíta,
the tanner at Kíev, and send him on to me to deliver me from my
imprisonment.”
So the Tsar looked for Nikíta, and went to him himself to beg him to
release the land from the cruelty of the dragon and redeem the princess.
Just then Nikíta was tanning skins. He was just enfolding twelve hides
in his hands. But when he saw the Tsar come to see him, his hands so
trembled for fear that he rent the twelve hides. But, however much the
Tsar and the Tsarítsa asked him, he would not set out against the
dragon. Then the Tsar assembled five thousand children, who were to
mollify the tanner with their bitter tears. The little ones came to
Nikíta and begged him to go and fight the dragon. And when he saw them
weep, Nikíta the tanner himself almost felt the tears flowing. He took
thirty _puds_ of hemp, tarred it, and swathed himself in it in order
that the dragon might find him a hard morsel, and then set out. But the
dragon locked himself up in his den and would not come to view.
“Come with me into the open field, otherwise I will shatter your den to
pieces!” said the tanner, and began clattering at the doors.
Then the dragon, seeing his doom approach, came out into the open.
Nikíta the tanner fought the grisly worm some time, maybe long, maybe
short, and at last got him under.
Then the dragon besought Nikíta the tanner: “Do not beat me to death.
Stronger than us two there is nothing in the white world. Let us divide
the earth. You may live on the one half and I on the other.”
“Very well!” said Nikíta, “only we must delimit frontiers.”
So the tanner took the plough, which weighed three hundred _puds_, and
harnessed to it the dragon, and drew the harrow all the way from Kíev to
the Caspian Sea.
“Now we have divided the entire earth,” said the dragon.
“Yes, we have divided the earth, but not the sea; we must also divide
the sea, otherwise you would say I was taking your share of the water.”
So they then set out into the middle of the sea, and there Nikíta slew
the dragon and drowned him.
The trench may still be seen: it is two fathoms deep. They plough all
round it; but never touch the bottom: those who do not know whence came
this trench call it a battlement.
When Nikíta had done this feat, he demanded no reward for it, but went
home and went on tanning.