And then the bold hero turned back again; again he rode to that Burning Stone; again he wrote beneath that inscription:
“Though I rode by that path, I became not rich.”
[[50]]
VII.
ILYÁ OF MÚROM AND KING KÁLIN.
In the palace of the gracious Prince Vladímir, in royal Kiev town, a great feast of honour was spread for many princes and nobles and for the strong and mighty heroes and their bold followers, men of the plains, and for the stranger merchants and traders.
The Fair Sun, Prince Vladímir himself, took his pleasure there, and gave rich gifts to his guests. To some he gave towns, and to others he gave small towns, to some he gave villages, and to others he gave hamlets, and to Ilyá of Múrom he gave a coat of marten fur with a collar of sable.
But Ilyá received not the fur coat as an honour; he received it without respect and praised it not. He took the fur coat into the kitchen and dragged the fur coat about the kitchen floor. Yes, and thus he talked to the fur coat:
“Just as I drag about this fur coat, so will I drag about that serpent, King Kálin, by his yellow curls. And just as I pour strong drink upon this fur coat, his heart shall pour forth his hot blood.”