Young Volgá then sent his whole brave body-guard to pull the plough out of the ground, shake the earth from the ploughshare, and throw the plough behind the broom bush, but, though they tried their hardest, they could not pull the plough out of the ground, or shake the earth from the ploughshare, and throw the plough behind the broom bush. Then the good ploughman came riding up upon his light bay mare to this plough of maple wood. He took hold of the plough with one hand, pulled the plough out of the ground, shook the earth from the ploughshare, and threw the plough into the broom bush.
Again they all mounted their good steeds and rode on. The ploughman’s mare went on at a trot, but Volgá’s horse had to gallop to try to get up to the ploughman’s mare, and Volgá’s horse was left behind. Volgá began to wave his cap, and he shouted:
“Stop, good ploughman. If that mare of yours were a horse, I would give five hundred for that mare.”
The ploughman answered him:
“Stupid is Volgá, the son of Svyátoslav. I took the mare as a foal from the dam, and I paid five hundred for that mare when she was a foal. If the mare were a horse, she would be priceless!” [[14]]
Said Volgá, the son of Svyátoslav:
“Here, good ploughman-farmer, by what name art thou called? What is thy father’s name, and whence comest thou?”
And the ploughman answered him:
“Well now, Volgá, son of Svyátoslav, I plough the fields for rye, I build my ricks, I stack my corn, I lead it home; when I’ve brought it home, I grind the corn, I split wood, and I brew beer. When I have brewed beer I give it to the peasants to drink. And the peasants call me Young Mikúla, the villager’s son!” [[15]]