Next the two brothers hastened to Vladimir. “We have come,” declared they to the citizens, “not against you, but to find Turijak, Vassili, and Lazar, those men who lied foully to David. Through listening to them he has done dreadful evil; yield those three up to us. If ye protect them, we must attack you.” The citizens counseled together and declared then to David: “Yield these three men; for thee we are ready to battle, but not for them.” “They are not here,” replied David. He had sent those attendants to Lutsk to save them. The people forced him to bring back Vassili and Lazar; Turijak had fled to Kief and thus saved himself. Peace was made, and next morning Vassili and Lazar were hanged on two gibbets, in front of Vladimir.
Sviatopolk had promised to march against David and expel him, but all this time he was idle; he set out only after a year, and then he moved not directly, but to Brest on the boundary, where he made a Polish alliance. He feared to attack single-handed and acted only when David was beaten by Volodar and Vassilko; even then he wished the Poles to assist him. He also made [[41]]an alliance with Volodar and Vassilko, and kissed the cross to them.
David, too, went to Brest to get Polish aid, and gave fifty gold grievens[2] to King Vladislav Herman as a present. “Help me!” implored David. “Sviatopolk is in Brest,” said the king, “I will reconcile thee with him.” Vladislav, however, soon discovered by experience that the friendship of Sviatopolk brought a greater return to him than did friendship with David. The Kief prince made richer gifts, and to Vladislav’s son he gave his daughter in marriage. In view of these facts, the king informed David that he had failed in discussions with Sviatopolk. “Go home,” said he; “I will send aid if thy cousin attacks thee.”
David went home and waited a long time. Sviatopolk laid siege to Vladimir. David held out, hoping for Polish assistance, which came not. At last he yielded, and the two princes made peace. David marched out, and Sviatopolk, when he had entered Vladimir in triumph, began to think of Volodar and Vassilko. “They are on lands which belonged to my father,” said he, and he marched against the two brothers, forgetting that he had kissed the cross to them recently. He found it most difficult, however, to deal with those princes. When he advanced to invade their lands, Volodar and Vassilko met him promptly on the boundary. Before the battle, which followed immediately, Vassilko held up the cross which Sviatopolk had kissed, and cried out to him: “See what thou didst kiss to prove thy good faith to me. Thou hast robbed me of eyesight, and now thou art trying to kill me. Let this holy cross be between us.”
The ensuing battle was savage. Sviatopolk was forced from the field and withdrew to Vladimir, where he put his son, Mystislav, in charge, and sent another son, Yaroslav, to Hungary to find aid against Volodar and Vassilko, he himself going to Kief in the meantime.
At Yaroslav’s call, the Hungarian king, Koloman, came with an army and two bishops and laid siege at once to Peremysl, where Volodar had fixed himself. David came back from Poland, where he had begged aid without finding it. Their common danger at this time brought him and his victim together, and, leaving his wife in Volodar’s care, he set out to find Polovtsi allies. He met Bonyak, the famous Polovtsi Khan, who returned with him, bringing [[42]]a strong force of warriors. They attacked and drove out the Hungarians, and punished them severely. Yaroslav, son of Sviatopolk, who had brought the Hungarians to Russia, fled now to the Poles, and David, making use of his victory with promptness, marched on Vladimir when he was not expected, seized the suburbs and laid siege to the fortress without delay.
Mystislav, placed in command, as we have seen, by Sviatopolk, his father, defended the city successfully till misfortune befell him. He was standing one day on the wall behind a wooden curtain when an arrow flew in through a crevice and killed him. His death was concealed from the people for three days. When they learned of it, they said straightway: “If we surrender now, Sviatopolk will destroy us.” So the chief men sent to Kief, saying: “Thy son is slain, we are dying of hunger. If thou come not, the people will yield to the enemy.”
Sviatopolk sent his voevoda, Putyata, with forces which halted at Lutsk, where Sviatoslav, son of David of Chernigoff, had warriors. At this juncture envoys from David, son of Rurik, who was besieging Vladimir, had audience with Sviatoslav, who had just sworn friendship to them. But when Putyata appeared, this same Sviatoslav was frightened. He seized David’s envoys, and went himself with his warriors to help Putyata, instead of helping David. These two allies arrived before Vladimir one midday, and attacked David. The Vladimir men, seeing this from the walls of the city, made a sally and David was badly defeated. He fled and Putyata and his ally marched into Vladimir, where they established one Vassili as lieutenant of Sviatopolk. After that the allies departed for Lutsk, and Putyata went to Kief.
Meanwhile David fled quickly toward the steppe land to find Polovtsi. Again he met Bonyak, who returned with him, and they captured Lutsk and Vladimir, which David now occupied. Then he sent his nephew, Mystislav, to the mouth of the Dnieper to seize merchants, and thus force the Grand Prince to sue for peace as he had done formerly—Sviatopolk, by nature weak and vacillating, had shown that he was not the man to punish David, who was stronger now than he had ever been before.
In 1100 a new meeting of princes was arranged to assemble at Vititchevo. At this meeting the following decision was made known to David: “We will not let thee have Vladimir, because [[43]]thou hast cast a knife wickedly between us. We do not exclude thee, or punish thee further. Thou canst take Bugsk with Ostrog. Sviatopolk gives thee Dubno and Chartorisk, also Dorogobuj. In addition, Monomach gives thee two hundred grievens, Oleg and David two hundred more.”